UP Block Polls: BJP Leader & Over 100 Others 'Attack' Police, FIR Filed

Widespread violence on voting day for Uttar Pradesh Block polls.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vimal Bhadauria and 125 unidentified people for allegedly attacking police personnel amid block panchayat president polls in UP's Etawah district on Saturday, 10 July.

The case was filed after a video of Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Prashant Kumar Prasad claiming that BJP leaders had slapped him outside the Barhpura Block polling station surfaced on social media and gained traction.

"They brought stones. They slapped me too. They brought bombs, BJP people, the MLA and district chief," Prasad expressed in the video.

Barhpura Station House Officer (SHO) Jitendra Kumar Sharma registered a complaint over the incident.

As per his complaint, Bhadauria was leading over 100 people towards the polling station, breaking barricades on the way.

The complaint stated, “The police officers tried to stop them but they did not listen and got aggressive, and, with an intention to kill, pelted stones at police personnel. They also fired country-made pistols, and during this ASP (City) was pushed to the ground and he was abused by the people… When Senior Sub-Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh tried to save him, he was also abused and beaten up by these people. There was chaos everywhere and the law-and-order situation collapsed,” The Indian Express reported.

The FIR has been filed under sections of the Indian Penal Code for rioting and attempted murder.

As per Sharma, the investigation in ongoing.

On Saturday, elections for the 476 posts of block panchayat chiefs were underway with reports of several violent incidents surfacing from 17 polling districts, PTI reported.

(With inputs from Indian Express and PTI)