Some self-styled leaders abused and slapped a superintendent at the Ludhiana MC headquarters on Tuesday when he told them to ask for permission for putting up hoardings. Surprisingly,instead of lodging a police complaint about misbehaviour with an MC employee,the civic body made the two parties reach a compromise and that too when the accused who slapped the superintendent was himself an MC sweeper but never went on duty. The incident happened in the morning when Yashpal Chaudhary,leader of the Bharatiya Valmiki Dharam Samaj,a body associated with the Akali government,and Vicky,an MC sweeper,reached the MC headquarters to meet Rajiv Bhardwaj,tehbazaari superintendent,zone A. Talking to Ludhiana Newsline,Bhardwaj,who was in tears after getting multiple slaps from Vicky,said,They told me that they want to put up hoardings in the whole city for the Valmiki Jayanti in October. I just told them to take permission from Isha Kalia,head of outdoor advertising. Hearing this,they started pressuring me to allow them to put up hoardings but I stuck to my point. Chaudhary then starting hurling abuses at me and Vicky gave multiple slaps on my face. After the incident,superintendents from all the MC zones went to meet Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria. They demanded strictest action for misbehaviour with the MC employee. However,the matter ended with a compromise while the superintendents wanted an FIR lodged against the accused. A source present at the meeting said,Mayor sir asked accused Vicky his occupation. Vicky replied that he is an MC employee and a member of Municipal Karamchari Dal. However,when he was asked about his duty timings and place of duty,he said he never goes on duty as he is too busy with Valmiki Samaj activities. When contacted,Yashpal Chaudhary,who allegedly abused Bhardwaj,said,It was just a joke. How can we slap or abuse an MC employee? He is our friend. Now the matter is over. Vicky or anyone else did not slap him.
