Roorkee Firing: Former BJP MLA Remanded to Judicial Custody, His Rival Gets Bail

Haridwar: A court in Roorkee on Monday sent former BJP MLA from Khanpur Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion to 14 days' judicial custody for allegedly firing at the office of his political rival and present Khanpur legislator Umesh Kumar.

On Sunday, Champion arrived at Kumar's office in Khanpur along with his supporters, allegedly abused people around and fired at his office from outside several times in broad daylight. Independent MLA Kumar, who also wielded a gun in retaliation, was granted bail by another court.

Champion was taken into custody from his Dehradun residence on Sunday night and brought to Ranipur police station in Haridwar district. On Monday, the former MLA was produced in the court of judicial magistrate, Roorkee which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days, government prosecution officer Rinku Verma said. Champion and Kumar became political rivals ever since the latter defeated his wife Kunwarani Devyani Singh in Khanpur seat in the 2022 assembly polls. Meanwhile, Kumar who had also been taken into custody was granted bail by a court in Roshnabad. CJM Avinash Kumar Srivastava granted Kumar bail after he gave two sureties of Rs 40,000 each and furnished a personal bond, his lawyer Uttam Singh Chauhan said. Chauhan said there is no serious charge like firing against Kumar, so the court has granted him bail.

A purported video of the incident went viral in which Kumar can be seen running in a rage with a pistol in hand towards Champion's office apparently to attack it and people struggling to calm him down. Meanwhile, after the recommendations of police, Haridwar District Magistrate Kamendra Singh has cancelled nine arms licences of former BJP MLA Champion, his son Divya Pratap Singh and wife Kunwarani Devyani. The DM has issued a show cause notice to all three and ordered them to appear within 15 days. However, the administration has not yet taken any decision on cancelling the arms licence of MLA Kumar.

Meanwhile, Champion's supporters gathered outside the court in Roorkee and raised slogans against the district administration. Accusing the administration of biased action, the supporters claimed that the incident was started by MLA Kumar. They also said that Champion was booked under serious sections like attempt to murder, whereas Kumar was charged under lighter sections of law.