Mumbai : Use of brute power is condemnable, more so when it is wielded by a people’s representative. An Independent MLA from Achalpur, Bacchu Kadu, who has been accused of assaulting a government servant, surrendered before the Marine Drive police on Wednesday evening.
The MLA, of course, had little choice in the matter. A large posse of policemen had been posted outside each of the four gates of the Vidhan Bhavan to ensure Kadu did not give the police the slip.
Kadu, who surrendered before he was formally arrested, was being interrogated at police station till late in the evening. “He would be produced before a Magistrate after the interrogation is over,” confirmed officials at the police station.
An FIR has been registered against Kadu for assaulting and obstructing a public servant, BR Gavit, in discharge of his duty. (Gavit is posted as deputy secretary in the General Administration Department of the Mantralaya.)
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At the heart of the argument between Kadu and Gavit is the contentious matter of a wife of a government official Ashok Jadhav who had sought the MLA’s help for securing an extension of two years to stay in government quarters. The woman, Kadu has claimed, is a heart patient. In a statement in the legislative assembly on Wednesday, Kadu further claimed there was an argument but neither did he make casteist remarks nor did he assault the officer.
“It was the officer who was rude and when he realised I would take up the issue he ran out shouting that I had assaulted him,” explained Kadu. The Mantralaya employees, who had resorted to a flash strike to protest against the incident and demanded action against the legislator, called off the protest in the evening.
“It is not right to hold people of the state to ransom because of one MLA,” Mantralaya employees union president Ramchandra Dhanawade said. Earlier, Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse announced an inquiry by the Chief Secretary into the alleged assault.
“The chief secretary has been asked to submit a report and we shall take action based on the recommendations,” he said. Reacting to the episode, Kadu told reporters that the government was supporting an officer who harassed people.
“Instead of taking action against me, the government should act against such officers. What I did is for the common people,” he said. A three-term MLA from Achalpur in Amravati district, Kadu, back in 2009 had also assaulted a clerk in Mantralaya after he had refused to release an order.
Making a statement in the Assembly on Wednesday, Kadu denied having assaulted the official. “I did not beat him. Had I beaten him, I would have said so. If such false allegations are being levelled, should we (legislators) stop going to Mantralaya,” he asked.
“Jadhav wanted to continue living in the quarters for two more years on medical grounds. I was trying to explain this to him (Gavit),” Kadu said. “Organised ‘dadagiri’ (intimidation) (by government officials) should stop,” Kadu said, making a reference to the protest by the Mantralaya staff over the incident.
