BJP MLA Avinash Trivedi
A day after supporters of BJP MLA Avinash Trivedi allegedly assaulted a police officer and helped an accused escape from custody near Lucknow University (LU), an FIR was registered against the accused and eight unidentified persons Thursday. Though a viral video of the incident allegedly shows Trivedi and around a dozen supporters arguing with sub-inspector (S-I) Abhay Singh, nabbed the accused in front of the university gate, the FIR does not mention their names. Speaking to The Indian Express, S-I Abhay Singh said that an MLA pressurised him to let the accused go and asked him to make the arrest on another day.
He further said that he did not name the MLA in the FIR as he was suggested otherwise, and did not reveal on whose advice he did so.
MLA Trivedi denied the policeman’s claims. The accused who escaped from custody was identified as Prashant Mishra, who had been on the run since last month. He had been booked on charges of attacking the Lucknow University (LU) proctor and a dozen teachers and staff on campus on July 4. S-I Singh is in-charge of the university police station outpost and the investigating officer of the case.
In the FIR, S-I Singh stated, “After Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji’s ‘Kalash Visarjan’ programme ended yesterday, I was given information that Mishra, who was wanted in the university case, was passing by Hanuman Setu after attending the programme along with 2-3 associates. I rushed to the spot with three constables and saw Mishra near the university’s gate no.1. I caught him at around 6.40 pm…I was completing legal formalities regarding his arrest when his associates and around 9-10 others arrived and started protesting against the arrest.”
He further said, “I told them that there is a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Mishra from court. However, they did not listen to me and started manhandling me. They attacked me and tried to free Mishra from my custody. In the mean time, Mishra ran away…Ve vyakti gaali-galauch evam vardi utarwane ki dhamki dete hue mauke par aayi car me baith kar bhaag gaye (Those people started hurling abuses and while threatening to get me suspended, they sat in a car and escaped).”
Speaking to this newspaper, S-I Singh said he wanted to mention the MLA’s name in the FIR, adding that those who attacked him did so while continuously taking the latter’s name. However, he was instructed not to do so, he added.
“Some people were requesting me politely to let Mishra go as it was the day of the ‘Asthi Kalash’ Yatra. Soon, the MLA arrived. After the people present there told him Mishra was a party member, he started putting pressure on me. He was rude and arrogant. I was in my uniform and he was humiliating me in front of all those people. I was just doing my job,” Singh said over phone.
When contacted, Trivedi, who is the BJP MLA from Bakshi ka Talab constituency in Lucknow, said he did not know Mishra (the accused) and there was no reason he would put pressure on anyone to release him.
“After the programme, I was walking towards my car with around a dozen of my supporters when I was told about some people indulging in a heated argument. Realising my responsibility as an MLA, I went there to find some people creating a ruckus. I scolded the policeman and the people who were arguing. I called SP Trans-Gomti Harendra Kumar and Mahanagar Circle Officer (CO) Santosh Kumar Singh, and left after they arrived…I have no idea what the argument was about and came to know about Mishra on Friday only through media reports,” he claimed.
When contacted, Lucknow SSP Kalanidhi Naithani said, “I have not seen the video.” SP Trans-Gomti Harendra Kumar did not respond to phone calls.
Prashant Mishra and 9-10 unidentified others were booked under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension), 225 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.