FIR filed against Rajasthan sarpanch over attacks on BLO in Udaipur: Police

Kheroda police station house officer Suresh Bishnoi said the FIR was registered on a complaint by BLO Savlal Meena

JAIPUR: A first information report (FIR) has been registered against a 32-year-old sarpanch in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on charges of attacking a 58-year-old booth level officer (BLO) during his house-to-house surveys for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in the state, officials said on Saturday.

A booth level officer in Bikaner assists a voter in filling out the enumeration form for the SIR of the state’s voter list (PTI FILE PHOTO/Representative Image)

Kheroda police station house officer Suresh Bishnoi said the FIR was registered on a complaint by BLO Savlal Meena, who was tasked with the survey at Ballavnagar constituency’s part 151.

Savlal accused Manmohan Meena, the sarpanch of Nagaliya panchayat, and his associates of following him during his visits to the village. The BLO accused Savlal of attacking him first on November 15, and then again on November 16 and November 20, prompting the BLO to file a complaint that led to an FIR on Saturday, Bishnoi said.

Manmohan was booked under sections 132 (criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of their duty), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), and 189 (2) (unlawful assembly) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The police officer acknowledged that the motive behind the attacks was unclear.

“However, Manmohan had at least two more criminal cases in Kheroda from last year for pelting stones on the police staff during an investigation in the village in one of those two cases, and assaulting a villager and brutally injuring him over a property dispute in the second case. We are probing the matter and necessary action will be taken soon,” Bishnoi said.