UP: SP MLA booked for 'assaulting' power department employee following outage

An FIR has been registered against Samajwadi Party MLA Ashutosh Maurya for allegedly assaulting a power department employee and tearing the office register in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Friday.

MLA from the Bisauli constituency Ashutosh Maurya, when contacted, denied the charges and said he had gone to the electricity sub-station in the night after residents complained of an undeclared outage.

According to the police, the FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by Bisauli sub-station operator (SSO) Abhishek Mishra.

Mishra alleged that the SP MLA reached the sub-station at 12.30 Thursday night and asked for the roster register. The SSO said in his complaint that the legislator assaulted him and "when some colleagues made a video of his act, the MLA snatched their mobile phones, abused them and tore the office register." A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

Superintendent of Police (Rural) Siddharth Verma said that taking cognizance of the complaint and the viral video, a case has been registered against SP MLA Maurya and another person and the matter is being investigated.

When contacted, MLA Maurya categorically denied assaulting the SSO.

"Locals complained that power supply was being diverted to a private cold storage by stopping the supply to residential areas, following which I went to the substation and asked for a roster and lock book, but the employee there misbehaved with me," he said.

"The allegations leveled against me are baseless. I have given a complaint about the whole matter to the police inspector in the night itself. The police inspector is, however, denying receiving any complaint," he added.

He said his driver was beaten up and suffered multiple injuries. The MLA said that after the driver's medical examination, he will again go to the Bisauli Kotwali to file a complaint along with the medical report.

Criticizing the MLA, BJP district president Rajeev Gupta said this incident clearly showed the frustration and despair of SP leaders.

He said that it is the culture of the Samajwadi Party to beat up government employees and tear down government records. He said the BJP government in the state would act against whoever is involved in any wrongdoing.