UP: Bareilly mayor booked for ‘beating up’ official

An FIR was registered against Gautam and nearly 20 unidentified persons. No arrests have been made yet.

Sanjeev Pradhan claimed, “In the first week of this month, municipal commissioner Samuel Paul issued an order to charge Rs 5,000 from the person, who comes to release their animal caught on road. On Thursday, Mayor Dr Umesh Gautam wrote to me asking to charge only Rs 1,500 from them. I was following the order of municipal commission and charging Rs 5,000.”“On Monday, the Mayor along with around 25 others, accosted me in Nagar Nigam and forcibly dragged me to the office of the Municipal Commissioner. They verbally abused and physically assaulted me. The municipal commissioner intervened but they were not ready to listen to him.”

Bareilly municipal commissioner Samuel Paul said, “Following the intervention of senior officials, including principal secretary urban development Manoj Kumar, the matter has been resolved. On Tuesday, a meeting was held between the Mayor and Nagar Nigam officials in which it was decided to charge less amount from the people who comes to release of their animals. The Mayor was claiming that persons involved in dairy business are poor.”

Despite repeated attempts to contact him, the Mayor was unavaialble for comment.