File photo of BJP MP Bhola Singh. (Source: YouTube screen-grab)
Bulandshahr’s public works department (PWD) on Sunday got an FIR lodged against local BJP MP Bhola Singh, the party’s district president Himanshu Mittal and others for getting the boundary walls of a government colony demolished.
The boundary walls of DM Colony were rebuilt by the administration Monday, following a directive issued by the district magistrate. The colony has official bungalows of the Bulandshahr district magistrate, SSP, and other senior police and administrative officials.
In March this year, the district administration had raised the walls at six entry points of the colony to put a stop to trespassing. Since then, residents of the adjacent area had been protesting that they had to travel around 2 km to reach the city’s main market.
According to the FIR registered on the basis of a complaint filed by PWD junior engineer Pawan Kumar, Singh, Mittal and a few other local party leaders had on Sunday gotten all the boundary walls demolished in their presence, said Station House Officer (SHO) of City Kotwali police station Dhananjay Mishra.
Complainant Pawan Kumar Singh alleged that the accused threatened and thrashed people in the colony when they objected to the demolition, and even took away the debris. “The boundary walls were built for the security of government officials staying in the colony. The walls, around two metres-high, were built by the Bulandshahr Development Authority. Maintenance work of DM Colony is looked after by the PWD department,” said Pawan, who is the colony’s maintenance in-charge.
SHO Mishra said that the case against the BJP leaders, advocate Laxmiraj, Pradeep Bhorey, Dushyant and 30-35 unidentified residents of the nearby Devipura locality, was registered under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation). Charges under Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act have also been invoked, he added.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Bulandshahr, Pravin Ranjan Singh said photographs of the demolition have been obtained.
When contacted, BJP district president Mittal said, “Around six months ago, the then district magistrate Roshan Jacob got the boundary walls constructed at six entry points of DM colony. Local residents in adjacent localities had been regularly demanding that the walls be removed as they had to travel 2-3 km to reach the main market of the city. In August this year, I had sent a letter to the DM requesting that the walls be removed as they were causing problems for the locals. I had also stated that there were no walls at these entry points for the last 50 years. On Sunday, local residents got these walls demolished after staging a protest. I too was present at the spot, along with MP Bhola Singh.”
He further said, “Now the district administration has rebuilt the boundary walls, causing anger among locals. I will talk to senior government officials in this regard.”