Lucknow: ‘Commission’ not paid, ‘aides of local BJP MLA’ dug up road

Shahjahanpur admin says will recover damage from culprits; Katra MLA distances himself from accused Jagveer, admits he is a party worker.

Officials inspects the half-a-kilometre dug-up stretch in Shahjahanpur on Thursday. (PTI)

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A case has been registered at Jaitipur police station in Shahjahanpur district after a 400-metre stretch of a road being constructed by the public works department (PWD), connecting Shahjahanpur to Budaun, was allegedly dug up with the help of a bulldozer by a man and his associates, who claimed to be a representative of a BJP MLA, for non-payment of “commission” by the contractor, officials said.

Officials said that they would recover the damage from the accused responsible for digging the road.
Based on a complaint lodged by Ramesh Singh, the owner of the construction company building the road, the FIR was registered against Jagveer Singh, who according to the complaint is a representative of local BJP MLA Veer Vikram Singh — MLA from Katra — and 15-20 unidentified people under IPC sections for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

While Jagveer Singh was absconding, some people were taken into custody for questioning, police said on Thursday.
“The honourable MLA’s men had been creating hindrance in the public work for several months. They beat up officials and workers. Around 9 pm on October 2, Jagveer Singh came with 15-20 people armed with sticks. He said that they were representatives of the MLA…. They also dug up the road at several places with a JCB machine after beating employees,” the complaint reads.

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Speaking with The Indian Express, Circle Officer (Tilhar) Prayank Jain said, “We have taken some people in custody and are questioning them. The main accused, Jagveer Singh, is absconding and we are making efforts to nab him. Multiples teams are working on the case.”

Shahjahanpur District Magistrate Umesh Pratap Singh said the recovery for the damage done to the public property would be done from those responsible for it. “As per rules, we will recover the damage from those who have done it,” he added.

ADM Sanjay Kumar Pandey said detailed information has been sought from the executive engineer of the PWD and a team formed under the Tilhar SDM to probe the matter.

Asked about the development, MLA Veer Vikram Singh said that accused Jagveer Singh is not his representative, but accepted that he is a BJP worker. “I have nothing to do with him,” he said.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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