Kannauj MP booked for ‘beating up’ official for delay in food distribution

Tehsildar Arvind Kumar, a Dalit, alleged that the MP and his men beat him with sticks in front of his wife and eight-year-old daughter.

On Kumar’s complaint, the FIR has been lodged against four named people, including Pathak, and 20-25 unidentified others. The other three named in the FIR are Sachin Sharma, Saurabh Katiyar and Shivendra Singh. The FIR has been lodged under sections of IPC 147 (rioting) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and others. Police have also invoked the SC/ ST Act.

District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Mishra said he had sent a report to the state government giving details about the incident. He said that ration was being regularly distributed in the district.

Arvind Kumar said three days ago, MP Pathak had sent a list with 600 names from rural and urban areas and directed him distribute ration to them. “I forwarded the list to the nayab tehsildar to identify the people and provide ration. In the last 24 hours, ration was distributed to around 100 of the named people,” said Kumar.

He added, “On Tuesday, I got a call from MP on his cellphone. The MP questioned me why ration was not given to people whose names were mentioned in the list. I told him that a few people had not got ration and the nayab tehsildar was veryfing some details. I also told him that packets were still being prepared for distribution.”

“The MP started abusing me for delaying the distribution. When I objected to it, he threatened to beat me up in my office. I immediately alerted the SDM and ADM. A few minutes later, a revenue officer informed me that the MP was on his way to the tehsil office. The SDM advised me to leave the place immediately.”