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Himachal minister Anirudh Rana booked for assaulting NHAI officer
NHAI manager (technical) Achal Jindal undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Shimla after attack during site inspection on Monday.
Himachal Pradesh panchayati raj minister Anirudh Singh Rana was on Tuesday booked for assaulting a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officer, Achal Jindal, during a site inspection where a five-storeyed residential building had collapsed in the Bhattakuffar area of Shimla on Monday.
Dhalli police station house officer (SHO) Virochan Negi said that the first information report was registered against the minister under Sections 132, 121(1), 352, 126(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after Jindal, who is the manager (technical) at NHAI, Shimla, complained that he had been assaulted on Monday. The sections address the offence of assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant to deter them from their duty.
The NHAI officer is undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC) in Shimla.
After the NHAI Engineers’ Association condemned the incident and sought Nitin Gadkari’s intervention, the Union minister of road transport and highways spoke to chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and urged immediate and exemplary action “against all perpetrators of the heinous act”.
“I have taken serious cognizance of the matter and spoken with the chief minister. Justice must be delivered without delay. The assault is deeply reprehensible and an affront to the rule of law. Such a brutal attack on a public servant performing his official duties not only endangers individual safety but also erodes institutional integrity,” Gadkari posted on social media.
Leader of opposition and former chief minister Jairam Thakur also demanded Sukhu dismiss Rana from the cabinet. “This type of anarchy will not be tolerated. The attack on NHAI officers in the presence of a minister and officials is an example of the declining law and order in the state,” he said.
In solidarity with Jindal, the NHAI Engineers Association asked all officers of the highway authority to proceed on half-day leave from 2pm on Tuesday as a mark of protest.
In his complaint to the police, Jindal said he, along with a site engineer Yogesh, went to attend a meeting called by Shimla rural sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Manjeet Sharma at 11.30am on June 30 to review the collapse of the five-storeyed building at Chamyana. Since the SDM was not present in the office, Yogesh contacted the SDM by phone and they were directed to come to the collapse site in Bhattakufar, where four-laning by the NHAI is underway.
On reaching, they found minister Anirudh Singh Rana there along with the SDM and some local residents. The minister was at the site to assess the building collapse. Jindal enquired about the incident from the contractor concerned, who informed him that the building had been vacated on the evening of June 29 and the occupants were safely evacuated to prevent any casualties.
Jindal informed the minister that the collapsed building was 30 metres away from the national highway’s right of way (ROW) and, as per the NHAI agreement, any damage occurring outside the ROW falls under the jurisdiction of the state government. On hearing this, Rana became agitated and began verbally abusing Jindal in front of the SDM and the local residents. He then allegedly took Jindal and Yogesh into a nearby room belonging to a local resident, where he began physically assaulting Jindal in the presence of the locals. The minister allegedly hit Jindal on the head with a pitcher, causing a head injury and bleeding. When engineer Yogesh tried to intervene, he too was beaten up. The complaint said that SDM Manjeet Sharma did not intervene or assist the victims.
According to the complaint, both Jindal and Yogesh managed to escape the scene and reached IGMC Hospital in their private vehicle, where they are currently undergoing treatment. Jindal sought police protection and a fair investigation, demanding strict action against the minister and others involved.
