Chhattisgarh police have booked a BJP youth wing leader on charges of using obscene words on a WhatsApp group against newly appointed Raigarh district collector Shammi Abidi.
Prakash Agarwal, vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) of Raigarh, allegedly sent the offensive text on Sunday when Abidi was in Jagdalpur district.
Abidi, an IAS officer, is married to Jagdalpur superintendent of police (SP) Arif Sheikh, an IPS officer.
“The WhatsApp group’s administrator, a journalist, lodged a complaint and we registered the case on Monday,” said RK Mishra, station house officer of Sarangarh police station in Raigarh. “We have launched a hunt for the accused, who is from Sarangarh.”
Agarwal’s brother, Amit, is president of the Sarangrah nagar panchayat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A case has also been registered against Agarwal in Jagdalpur. “The collector was in Jagdalpur when she was informed about the incident. Investigation is going on,” said Sheikh.
Chhattisgarh Congress alleged that the collector was abused because she was a Muslim. “Does the BJP support this kind of behaviour towards the community?” asked state Congress spokesperson RP Singh.
State BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik said he would send a show-cause notice to Agarwal. “If I don’t get a satisfactory reply, action will be taken against him,” Kaushik added.
{{/usCountry}}State BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik said he would send a show-cause notice to Agarwal. “If I don’t get a satisfactory reply, action will be taken against him,” Kaushik added.
{{/usCountry}}This is not the first instance of a BJP youth leader stoking controversy. Last month, Uttar Pradesh BJYM leader Yogesh Varshneya hit the headlines after putting Rs 11 lakh bounty on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s head.