BJP MP booked after violence in Uttar Pradesh town

Lucknow: A BJP MP has been booked for his alleged involvement in violence at Sadak Doodhli in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh. Raghav Lakhanpal, the MP from Saharanpur, has also been booked for vandalism at the SSP’s residence.

Mr Lakhanpal and a dozen others have been booked a day after members of two communities had clashed after a group led by the BJP MP tried to forcibly take out a procession to mark Ambedkar Jayanti.

The police said that about 300 people had participated in the violence, whom the police was trying to identify. The cases have been registered for rioting, hurting a public servant to deter him from doing his duty and endangering the personal safety of others. Several people were injured in the violence, including stone-pelting and exchange of fire.

The violence comes against the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath repeatedly telling his party cadres not to indulge in violence and get out of the habit of taking to the streets to protest.

Angry that their procession had been cut short, the BJP MP not only led the protesters but also marched to Saharanpur SSP Love Kumar’s official residence where his supporters broke the officer’s nameplate and damaged CCTV cameras.

According to news reports, Mr Lakhanpal also made a short speech, saying, “If they (police) had any brains, they would have raided those houses (from where stones were allegedly thrown)... and let our procession be completed.”

“But they did not do it,” he said, before pledging to get the police chief sacked.

“Because the captaan, a reference to police chief, is naalayak (worthless). Now this captaan will be removed from here. A new captaan will come and the new captaan will get our procession to pass through, with planning,” the 40-year-old politician said.

That Thursday’s procession was just 100 metres short of its destination when the police dispersed them, he declared, was a big achievement, something that had not happened in seven years.