In MP, cops watched BJP goons attack rebel’s house

This despite the fact that the protestors were accompanied by television cameras, and the attacks were widely telecast by several channels with soundbytes from angry workers who said they wanted to teach the “traitor” a lesson.

The state BJP unit did not hide its displeasure with Singh. In fact, State Minister for Commercial Taxes Harendrajit Singh “Babbu” and several other local leaders led the protest outside the MP’s bungalow in Jabalpur.

Chandrabhan Singh today blamed “senior BJP leaders” for the attacks. “My life is in extreme danger. Senior BJP leaders have instructed their supporters to carry out this operation,” he said after the incident in Delhi. About 100 BJP Yuva Morcha workers stormed his official residence in North Avenue, barged into the drawing room and vadalised the premises. Delhi Police personnel as well as the Rapid Action Force were rushed to the spot.

“I was inside the house with my family. Many of them, with stones in their hands, were rushing towards the main door. We immediately locked all the doors. Suddenly, the mob started pelting stones. My family has been terrorised by the incident,” said the MP. Neither Chandrabhan nor his family members were injured in the incident.

The MP’s security has been beefed up following today’s attack. A case of rioting has been registered at the Parliament Street police station, and 29 BJP supporters have been arrested.

But in Jabalpur, SP Makrand Deuskar said nobody could be arrested because the FIR did not name anyone. When told that various news channels had repeatedly telecast the images of vandalism, he said the police had asked for video footage of the violence.

Damoh’s additional SP T K Vidyarthi too said making arrests was difficult because the FIR mentioned “unidentified” persons. When told about the telecast on local channels, he asked, “Is it?”

A senior police officer was blunt. “Itna lambachouda maal liya hai, thoda nuksan chalta hai (he has accepted a huge bribe, a bit of damage (to property) doesn’t matter,” he said.

No state BJP leader has condemned the violence. The ruling party is particularly angry with Chandrabhan because he kept all senior leaders, including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state president Narendra Singh Tomar, in the dark till the last moment. He even attended the dinner hosted by Chouhan the night before the trust vote.

The PCC was quick to criticise the attacks saying, “ the violence exposes the fascist face of the BJP”.

— with inputs from New Delhi