BJP legislator refutes allegations of manhandling toll plaza workers
BAREILLY: Workers of a toll plaza in Fatehganj (west) area have accused a BJP MLA and his supporters of manhandling them on the night of April 17. The matter came to light when a CCTV footage of the incident was circulated on social media. The video grab, reportedly two days old, shows a man alleged to be the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator engaging in a spat with the toll booth staff and then beating up an employee. The MLA, however, has refuted the allegations, saying the picture shown in the footage is not of him.
He said he neither owned a Scorpio car as shown in the video, nor had he been to New Delhi in the past six months.
The local police have started investigation into the matter.
According to reports, the cavalcade of BJP MLA from Sitapur Rakesh Rathor was stopped at the toll plaza on National Highway 24 at Fatheganj (West) on Moradabad-Bareilly route, 20 km from Bareilly. The MLA’s supporters allegedly argued with the toll workers and then manhandled them. The MLA himself allegedly joined them later. “Three of our workers were man handled by the MLA and his supporters. The MLA threatened to take action against the workers and left with his supporters without even paying the toll tax,” said Vaibhav Verma, toll tax manager of the toll plaza. The toll workers have filed a complaint against the BJP MLA and his workers at Fatehganj Police station. Though the complaint was registered on Tuesday, police failed to register an FIR till Thursday.
“We have registered an FIR against unknown people regarding the matter and started investigation,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Bareilly Jogindra Singh.
Meanwhile, the MLA has refuted the allegations. “The man seen in the picture is not me. I was at home when the incident happened,” Rakesh Rathore told HT. He further alleged that the allegations was conspiracy against him by the Samajwadi Party. “The man in the video is Mahendra Yadav, a SP member from Biswa. The SP is trying to drag my name into the matter,” Rathore said.