Thane, June 21 (IANS) A day after Independent MLA Geeta Jain was seen slapping an official and threatening another, two junior engineers of Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) on Wednesday submitted a written complaint to the Kashimira police station demanding action against the legislator.
Jain, a former BJP leader, was seen slapping MBMC junior engineer Shubham Patil and allegedly threatening his colleague Sanjay Soni.
A day after the incident, the aggrieved duo has now submitted a written complaint, and the police are probing the incident, an official of the Kashimira police station told IANS.
The incident took place in Penkarpada where the MBMC carried out a demolition drive to raze some illegal tenements on June 16.
The team, led by Patil and Soni, was accused of forcibly evicting a family in one hutment comprising some seniors and a six-month-old toddler, who were thrown out in the rains.
Following complaints about the ‘inhuman’ behaviour, Jain went to the demolition site and sought an explanation from the MBMC team, pointing to a government resolution that bars any residential structures from being demolished during monsoon.
Jain said while the distraught evicted family members were crying, the two engineers were ‘laughing’. Getting angry, she slapped Patil, even as videos of the incident went viral on social media.
Since no complaint was registered, the local police declined to comment on the entire issue on Wednesday.
When questioned about the incident, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that when tempers run high, the elected representatives of the people must maintain their calm, and follow the rules and laws.
Simultaneously, the Aam Aadmi Party also condemned the incident and demanded filing of an FIR against the MLA for assaulting an on-duty government servant.
As per the law, any assault, intimidation or criminal force deterring a public servant from discharging his duties is a non-bailable offence stipulating a punishment of up to five years in jail.
–IANS
qn/arm
