Police in Mandi have registered three FIRs against more than 50 people, including BJP workers, for wrongful restraint, unlawful assembly and rioting after they welcomed Cabinet Minister Jagat Singh Negi with black flags, raised “go back” slogans and tried to stop his vehicle during his visit to the disaster affected areas under Thunag sub division of the district, officials Saturday said.
Negi, the Revenue and Horticulture Minister, is on a four-day visit to the rain-ravaged areas in Mandi. He faced the protests on Friday when he visited the Seraj Assembly constituency, represented by Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, over his announcement of shifting the the College of Horticulture and Forestry from Thunag to Sundernagar in the district. Several purported videos of the protesters throwing black flags and hurling shoes at the minister’s cavalcade have been shared on the social media with the ruling Congress accusing the opposition party of orchestrating the protests. The the incident took place under the jurisdiction of Janjehli police station.
Mandi police said they have registered cases under sections 126 (2), 189 (2) (wrongful restraint), 190 (unlawful assembly), 191 (2) (rioting) of BNS, officials said.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Mandi, Sakshi Verma, said FIRs have been lodged under bailable offences at Janjheli police station. “One man has been booked for allegedly hurling stones on the cavalcade of the cabinet minister. All three FIRs were registered Friday night. Efforts are on to identify the suspects,” Verma said.
The FIRs were registered based on complaints lodged by local Congress leaders Jagdish Reddy and Virendra Kumar. The first FIR accuses protesters of obstructing the minister’s path and showing black flags and names 57 individuals as accused. The second FIR includes charges of stone pelting. The third FIR alleges that the minister’s vehicle was stopped near the bridge at Thunag market around 5:35 pm where some women reportedly raised slogans against the relocation of the horticulture college, waved black flags, and hurled a shoe at the cavalcade.
BJP questions intention behind college shift plan
BJP’s state unit chief Dr Rajiv Bindal condemned the state government for registering FIRs against BJP workers. “Minister Negi came to Thunag and issued a notification about the relocation of horticulture college. What was his intention behind it? Only to further hurt the people of Thunag”.
Party’s former state president Satpal Singh Satti said Jai Ram Thakur, during his tenure as chief minister, had laid the foundation stone of the horticulture college, to come up at a cost of Rs 240 crore. “All clearances were obtained, but after forming the government, the ruling Congress stalled all development work of the college. Now, under the garb of disaster, the government has decided to shift the institute from Thunag,” Satti said. He also questioned the intention of the state government saying the revenue minister visiting Seraj 26 days after disaster struck.
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Talking to reporters in Seraj, party’s Mandal president Bhishm Thakur confirmed that party workers and locals showed black flags to the ministers and raised the “go back” slogans in protested against the proposal to shift the horticuture college. He claimed that the protestors were manhandled by the police.
At least 15 people died while 34 remain missing following cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides in different parts of Mandi on the intervening night of June 30 and July 1. Seraj bore the brunt of the disaster.
Negi had earlier said that despite the rain ravaging several parts of the state, LoP Thakur was only interested in his constituency — remarks that had drawn sharp reactions from the BJP and the former chief minister.
Protests an insult to minister, BJP’s handiwork: Cong
On Saturday, Negi said said that he held “peaceful meetings” at three places and that group of people also called on him at Thunag rest house Friday urging not to shift the college. “I told them that the matter would be taken up with the government,” he said, adding that they pressed for a statement in favour of their demand and tried to stop the vehicle and raised slogans, which was not right as their problem had already been heard.
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Negi further said that the horticulture college’s location is unsafe, lacks hostel facilities, and even the students want the college to be shifted.
Meanwhile, Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani, in a joint statement, termed the protests as not just an insult to a minister but also a disgrace to the “democratic set up, cultural dignity, and constitutional values” of the state, read the statement.
They further said that Negi had gone to the Seraj region to assess the damage caused by the disaster and to meet the affected families. However, “some anti-social elements behaved with him in a premeditated and indecent manner. This entire incident appears to have taken place under the patronage of BJP leaders. The BJP has laid the foundation for an extremely unfortunate tradition in the political history of the state, the consequences of which could be quite grave in the future,” read the statement.
Minister visits Syathi village
On Saturday, Negi visited Syathi village in the Dharampur sub-division to assess the relief and reconstruction efforts and met the affected residents. Later, chairing a review meeting, he said reaching every affected person with relief is the topmost priority of the government. He recalled that Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited Syathi within 24 hours of the disaster and directed officials to ensure immediate relief and rehabilitation.
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Negi added that crop and orchard damages caused by the disaster will be jointly assessed by the revenue, agriculture, and horticulture departments.
Local MLA Chander Shekhar said that 22 families in the region have been directly affected. Sub-divisional magistrate, Dharampur, Joginder Patyal said Rs 3.85 lakh has been distributed under various heads to the affected people.
