BJP MLA accuses police chief of assaulting him

A video shows him in a white vest, holding his ‘torn’ kurta in his hands

An MLA of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh alleged on Wednesday that the district police chief of Pratapgarh, an IPS officer, assaulted him and tore his clothes when he was in the district magistrate’s office to raise the issue of missing names in the voters’ list for the upcoming panchayat elections. Abhay Kumar alias Dhiraj Ojha made the allegations in a dramatic fashion, a video of which was widely circulated on social media. The footage shows the MLA walking out of the DM’s office in Pratapgarh in a white vest, holding his ‘torn’ kurta in his hands. The MLA then lies flat on the ground with his hands stretched out and accuses the SP, Akash Tomar, of assaulting him. “Pratapgarh SP beat me a lot. I did not do anything wrong,” the MLA said in Hindi. “Yeh bahut khatarnaak aadmi agaya hai. Maar dalega humko (He is a dangerous man. He will get me killed),” said the legislator from Raniganj.