BHOPAL: In a shocking incident, staff of a toll booth was allegedly attacked by former Madhya Pradesh BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and aides on Friday evening, after the staff asked the ruling party leader to show his identity proof in Kolaras area of Shivpuri district (275 km from Bhopal).
Two staff members of the toll booth were injured in the alleged attack by Chauhan and his aides at the toll. One of the injured has suffered head injury and has been hospitalized.
The incident which is bound to cause embarrassment to the ruling BJP happened on the eve of party national president Amit Shah’s visit to Indore, Jhabua, Ratlam and Ujjain district to kick-start poll campaign in the Malwa-Nimar region on Saturday.
The alleged incident whose visuals have been captured in the CCTV cameras of toll booth happened at the booth located near Purankhedi village on Shivpuri-Guna highway.
Senior BJP leaders, including party national vice president Prabhat Jha (a Rajya Sabha member) and former state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan (Lok Sabha member from Khandwa seat of the state) were in Shivpuri district on Friday to take meetings of party workers in connection with Amit Shah’s September 9 visit to the region.
After the meetings with party workers in Shivpuri district, Chauhan was returning in his motorcade when the toll staff stopped his vehicle on way from Shivpuri to Guna district. When told that the BJP MP was travelling in the vehicle, one of the toll booth staff asked Chauhan to show his identity card.
“Instead of showing the ID proof, the MP and his aides started abusing the toll staff and assaulted them. The toll staff was attacked by the BJP MP at the toll booth as well as inside the toll’s office,” alleged toll manager Mahendra Singh.
The CCTV footage recorded in the cameras at the toll booth and office clearly showed the BJP himself nabbing one of the toll staff with the collar of shirt, drag and beat him. When the other staff members at the toll came to their colleagues rescue, they too were beaten by the ex-state BJP president’s aides.
“Two of our staff has been injured in the attack by the MP and his aides. One of the injured staff has suffered head injury and also bled profusely,” the toll manager added.
However, when queried by journalists on reaching Guna district, Chauhan denied that he or his staff had assaulted any toll booth employee.
Back in Bhopal, the state BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari said “Nandkumar Singh Chauhan is a cool headed politician and we can’t even imagine any violent behaviour from him. A proper probe is needed to find out whether the toll staff provoked the politician with any of their acts.”