JAMSHEDPUR: Vikas Singh, a local BJP leader, and 15 unidentified people were booked on Saturday for offering "energy" pills to a civic body official "to wake him up from his slumber" and perform his duty to rectify the "injustice done by people in the power corridor".
According to police, Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) special officer (SO) Suresh Yadav filed a case against the saffron party leader and 15 of his supporters for offering him two packets of 'Revital' pills so that he "has the energy to visit the site where state health minister Banna Gupta has constructed his multi-storey office building by reportedly encroaching upon tribal land located in the jurisdiction of the urban body".
The BJP has filed a case against the encroachment. In his complaint, Yadav further said the land reportedly encroached upon by Gupta is protected under the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act. Yadav added that Singh's act was tantamount to criminal intimidation, creating a nuisance and obstructing a government official from discharging his duties, and filed a complaint under relevant sections of the IPC.
'No action by MNAC staff in six months' Defending his action, the BJP leader claimed the minister, through one of his aides, encroached on the land located adjacent to Anand Vihar Colony along NH-33. "Despite our complaints to the MNAC officials in the past six months, there has been no action in this regard," Singh said.
Earlier, Singh and his supporters submitted a memorandum to the SO demanding action on their complaint. When Yadav reportedly said he has no knowledge of any "illegal construction" on "encroached land", Singh offered him the vitality pills. Later, a BJP delegation staged a demonstration outside the MNAC office, demanding action on their plea.
Olidih police station in-charge, Sonu Kumar, said the complaint has been registered under sections 353 (obstructing a government official from discharging duty), 504 (creating nuisance) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.