Bhopal: Police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of urinating on a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district, even as the opposition Congress demanded a CBI probe into the incident and demolition of the accused's property.
The MP Bharatiya Janata Party has constituted a four-member committee to conduct a probe into the incident, state party chief V D Sharma said.
The committee is headed by Ramlal Rautel, chairman of the Janjati Vikas Pradhikaran. Legislators Sharad Kol and Amar Singh and BJP state vice-president Kantdev Singh are members of the panel.
A video of the incident went viral on social media platforms on Tuesday, following which the police registered a case against the accused, identified as Pravesh Shukla.
Former state Congress president Kantilal Bhuria claimed the video was a few months old.
The case was registered against the accused under Indian Penal Code sections 294 (obscene acts), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, an official from the MP Chief Minister's Office said on Tuesday.
Action under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) was also initiated, he added.
The Congress had claimed the accused was linked to the BJP, but the ruling party denied the allegation.
Talking to PTI, state Home Minister Narottam Mishra termed the man's act as “heinous, condemnable and a shame on humanity.”
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati also said the act was shameful and condemnable and demanded demolition of the property of the accused.
Asked about a similar demand by the Congress of "bulldozer action" against the accused, Mishra, who is also the state government's spokesperson, told PTI, “Bulldozer action is not taken on the basis of Congress's demand...bulldozer runs only when there is an encroachment.”
Earlier in the day, Mishra told reporters that the accused was arrested. Without taking any name, the minister said bulldozers will also run over encroachments.
The accused was arrested at around 2 am on Wednesday on the basis of leads. He is being questioned, Additional Superintendent of Police Anjulata Patle said.
"We were searching for him and cops from different police stations around his village were on alert," the official said.
The chief minister in a tweet on Tuesday evening said, "A viral video from Sidhi district has come to my notice...I have instructed the administration to arrest the culprit and take the strictest action and also invoke the National Security Act."
Asked why the police did not act in the matter earlier when the video of the incident went viral, Narottam Mishra said all this is a matter of probe.
Bhuria said, "The incident that occurred in Sidhi is an insult to the tribal community. The state government should hand over the investigation to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the case should be heard in the court of law in non-BJP states."
He demanded that the victim's family be given a compensation of Rs 2 crore and a government job to two members of his family.
"This video is said to be some months old. But the victim was so scared of the accused BJP leader Pravesh Shukla that even after months, he could not muster the courage to complain to the police. Besides, the accused got an affidavit from the victim stating that no case should be registered against him," Bhuria alleged.
Without taking names, he said a BJP MLA and his representative are working like local goons.
Bhuria also claimed the accused has links with top BJP leaders and his photos with senior leaders of the ruling party have surfaced.
BSP chief Mayawati in a tweet on Wednesday said, “The incident of a local dabang leader urinating on a tribal/Dalit youth in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district is very shameful and extremely condemnable."
"It is also said that the government woke up after a video of the incident went viral, which shows their involvement," she claimed.
The BSP supremo said the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh should take strict action against the accused.
"Not only invoke the NSA, but confiscate/demolish the accused's property," she demanded in another tweet while asking the BJP government to act, instead of denying that the accused belonged to the ruling party.
Such incidents bring shame to everyone, she added.
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