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JE assaulted at MC office: Murder bid charges slapped on Panchkula councillor
Panchkula ward number 6 councillor Pankaj Valmiki sent to Ambala jail in judicial custody after being booked for the non-bailable offence
A day after the Panchkula police arrested Congress councillor Pankaj Valmiki for allegedly assaulting a junior engineer at the municipal corporation (MC) office in Sector 14, police have added the attempt to murder charge in the FIR against him.
If proven, the non-bailable offence entails imprisonment for life or 10 years in jail, along with fine.
Valmiki, the councillor of ward number 6, was arrested and ward number 17 councillor Akshay Chaudhary was booked after they allegedly thrashed junior engineer (JE) Rahul Saini, 24, inside the municipal commissioner’s office on Friday, inflicting head injuries.
Police are still looking into the allegations against Chaudhary before making an arrest. Apart from the duo, their unidentified accomplices were also booked in the FIR lodged at the Sector-14 police station.
Saini, who was hospitalised after the alleged attack, had told the police that he had reached deputy municipal commissioner Deepak Sura’s office around noon on Friday after he was summoned over the phone. Congress councillors Akshay Chaudhary, Pankaj Valmiki and Jai Koshik were already present there when Saini arrived.
He alleged that while he was speaking to councillor Chaudhary over an issue in his ward, councillor Valmiki started misbehaving with him. He reported the matter to the deputy municipal commissioner, who asked him to wait in the commissioner’s office, Saini stated in his complaint.
But while he was waiting in the office, Valmiki and Chaudhary, along with three to four men, turned up there and started assaulting him. Valmiki even hit his head with something sharp, leading to injuries. The group threatened to kill him and smashed several articles inside the office in rage, he alleged.
On his complaint, police had booked the two councillors and their unidentified accomplices under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing any public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 427 (mischief) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Assistant commissioner of police (ACO, Law and Order) Raj Kumar said Valmiki was arrested on Friday night and later Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC was added in the FIR against him.
The councillor was sent to Central Jail, Ambala, in judicial custody by a magistrate on Saturday. The matter will next come up for hearing on April 8.
The ACP said the police had issued notices to the other councillors to join investigation. “They have sought some time to produce CCTV footage and other proof. So, they have been allowed two days,” he added.
On Friday night, the councillors had also submitted a counter complaint against the JE, following which a daily diary report (DDR) was made.
Coming out in support of her party councillors, former Congress mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia alleged that the JE was a corrupt official and several complaints had been lodged against him. She claimed that whenever someone raised voice against him, false action was initiated against the complainant, which had happened in Friday’s matter as well.
Mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said the law will take its own course: “The officials and councillors are well-behaved and work in cooperation. Friday’s is just one odd incident.”
