A group of hawkers later wrote to the Juhu police, saying Satam had allegedly hit them and taken their money Thursday. However, Satam claimed that the hawkers had filed a false complaint against him. (Representational image)
Ameet Satam, the BJP MLA from Andheri West, where a fire in an under construction building claimed eight lives last week, was at the centre of a controversy Sunday when a video of him kicking and abusing a group of hawkers went viral on social media.
Satam is seen in the video clip chastising a policeman for continued unauthorised activities by hawkers in his constituency, and then using foul language to address several hawkers, who can also be seen in the clip.
A group of hawkers later wrote to the Juhu police, saying Satam had allegedly hit them and taken their money Thursday.
However, Satam claimed that the hawkers had filed a false complaint against him.
“A false complaint has been filed against me for seeking action against illegal cooking on the roads. The police is not able to take action against the illegal hawkers operating within 100 metres of their stations. After a seizure action in Manish Nagar a few days ago, they were afraid of taking cylinders in their vehicles, saying they were leaking. Then, imagine, what kind of danger these cylinders are posing to residents,” Satam told The Indian Express.
The MLA said the complaint by hawkers is an attempt to “demoralise” him in his fight against unauthorised hawking activity.
“Before registering a case against me, a contempt case against zonal DCP and local Senior police inspector should be filed for not following the October 2015 High Court order that banned illegal cooking on the roads. This is an attempt to demoralise me. But I will continue to fight against illegal hawkers,” he added.
On being asked about his behaviour seen in the video, Satam said he had an “emotional outburst”. “I had seen six charred bodies in the fire in an under-construction building in Juhu two days ago, and my reaction was an emotional outburst.” Senior police inspector of Juhu police station Sunil Ghosalkar said a letter has been received from vendors. According to Ghosalkar, the letter said that Satam hit the vendors and took away their money.
“We will record their statements and have also asked them to get a medical check-up done for injuries they may have sustained. Depending on that, the next course of action will be decided.”
He added that there was another matter of a video clip in which Satam is seen abusing policemen and kicking some vendors. “We have received the video clip today and we are scrutinising it. If he is obstructing the work of a policeman, appropriate sections will be applied in the case,” Ghosalkar added.
In their complaint to the police, the hawkers said that two men had earlier approached them demanding money on behalf of Satam. The vendors claimed that they did not trust the duo and refused to pay up. Eventually on Thursday, Satam reached the spot and along with four others, roughed up the vendors, they claimed. They have demanded that an FIR be registered against Satam. The letter is signed by eight hawkers who operate from near Mithibai College in Juhu.
