Himachal Pradesh minister Anirudh Singh was booked for wrongful restraint and voluntarily causing hurt after he allegedly assaulted two NHAI officials while inspecting a building collapse, officials said.
The FIR against the state rural development and panchayati raj minister was lodged on a complaint filed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) employee Achal Jindal, a manager at a four-lane project in Shimla. He alleged that Singh called him and his site engineer, Yogesh, to a room where they were beaten up.
Police said the FIR has been registered at Dhalli police station against Singh under sections 132 (criminal force to deter public servant while performing his duty), 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult), 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and 3(5) (criminal act committed by several persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The minister denied the allegations, claiming the complaint filed by the NHAI officials was an attempt to cover up their own negligence. “At least 700 complaints are pending against NHAI employees and officials for damaging private properties under the garb of widening roads across the state,” he said.
NHAI officials booked
However, on July 2, the NHAI officials were booked by the Himachal Pradesh police under endangering life, causing intentional hurt, and wrongful restraint. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by eight residents of Bhattakufar, some of them alleged that their homes were damaged due to ongoing road widening work by the NHAI.
According to Maktoob Media, the complainants alleged that Jindal prevented residents from meeting Minister Anirudh Singh and warned them that although compensation would be provided, approaching the minister could lead to suspension of work, denial of future compensation, and false cases being filed against them. When the residents protested, Jindal allegedly manhandled one of them by twisting his arm and used abusive and unparliamentary language.
Jindal was also booked by the Dhalli police along with the site engineer Yogesh Verma, based on a complaint filed by Chamyana Panchayat member Nihal Thakur.
(With PTI inputs)
