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Ludhiana: Residents who dumped waste at councillor’s office booked for rioting, theft
The accused who have been named in the FIR dated April 6 are Dharminder Singh Neeta, Ramandeep Singh Sonu, Bholu, and Rocky
A day after residents of Manjit Nagar dumped waste at the office of ward number 47 councillor Priya Kaira in Abdullapur Basti area, the Model Town police on Thursday booked four of them by name, along with other unidentified persons, for rioting, theft, and trespass.
The FIR has been registered on the complaint of Kaira’s personal assistant Deep Singh. The accused who have been named in the FIR dated April 6 are Dharminder Singh Neeta, Ramandeep Singh Sonu, Bholu, and Rocky.
Irked over clogged sewer lines and sewage accumulated on street number 2, 3 and 4, Manjit Nagar residents had dumped waste at the councillor’s office on Tuesday. A video of the act was also widely circulated on social media platforms. The residents said that the councillor had failed to resolve the issue for about four years, forcing them to live in unhygienic conditions. The councillor had slammed the residents for their act and said the work to install new sewer lines in the area got delayed due to imposition of model code of conduct ahead of the assembly elections.
In his complaint, Deep Singh mentioned that residents of Manjit Nagar created ruckus in the office by dumping waste, damaging furniture, using foul language against the councillor and making derogatory remarks. He claimed that the accused also took along a bag containing a councillor’s stamp, letter pad, and mobile charger among other items.
Investigating officer ASI Kulwant Singh said the FIR has been registered under sections 380 (theft), 451 (house-trespass), 427 (whoever commits mischief and thereby causes loss or damage), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 160 (whoever commits an affray) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
The police are investigating the case and no arrest has yet been made, said the cop.
Residents stage protest against ‘false’ FIR
Expressing resentment over the “false” FIR registered on the complaint of councillor’s personal assistant, residents of Manjit Nagar carried out a protest march from their area till Atam Nagar police post on Thursday.
The protesters said that the councillor has levelled baseless allegations on them as they had gone to complain against the choked sewer lines and no theft or rioting was done at the site. They demanded a police inquiry into the allegations before taking any action against them.
Model Town SHO Madhu Bala, who also reached the spot, said the residents claimed that a false FIR has been registered against them. The police are inquiring into the matter and CCTV footage of the councillor’s office will also be checked, she added.
