Rajouri/Nov,23: A man was hospitalized after alleged thrashing by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Reports said that BJP MLA Ravinder Raina allegedly beat up two persons, one of them a handicapped man, working at an Aadhaar centre in Rajouri.
Raina, however, denied assaulting anyone.
Khalid Hussain (28) and Tariq Aziz (23), according to Indian Express, alleged that Raina assaulted them inside the Aadhaar enrolment centre on the office premises of the BDO in Nowshera town in Rajouri.
The two, according to the report, collect Aadhaar enrolment forms from people, record the biometric data and upload them on the website of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the issuance of Aadhar cards.
Khalid, who has a problem in one leg, was stated to be grievously injured and sent to government district hospital at Rajouri. Tariq was discharged from a hospital in Nowshera after first aid.
“MLA Ravinder Raina locked the door from inside and then beaten us to pulp,” said Khalid, adding: “Raina told me that he has manhandled people inside the assembly then who are you.”
Pertinently, Raina led an assault by BJP MLAs on Independent legislator Engineer Rashid in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly last year.
Rashid was punched, kicked and abused by the MLAs as soon as he took his seat in the House.
However, Raina ruled out the allegations of thrashing the duo at Aadhar Centre.
“An elderly woman Rakia Begum approached me and said that Aadhar Card team is taking hefty amount from them. He was accompanied by other officers of tehsil and sub division administration. I visited the camp to inquire the matter only,” said the MLA.
Deputy Commisisoner Rajouri Shahid Iqbal said that he has asked the SDM Nowshera to submit a report on the incident after media reports.
Quoting eyewitnesses, The Indian Express reported that trouble started when a person, after jumping the queue, tried to give Khalid the enrolment form with a Rs 500 note hidden inside it.
“Khalid refused to accept the form and asked the person to stand in the queue. Another person accompanying the applicant and making a video tried to persuade Khalid to accept the form. However, he refused and informed his district coordinator Nazakat Hussain. Hussain told Khalid to approach the SDM or the tehsildar.”
Khalid along with Tariq were going to the SDM, when they came across Raina.
The MLA, accompanied by the SHO of Nowshera police station and some other people, took both inside the Aadhaar centre and locked the room from inside, said Aurangzeb, another operator at the enrolment centre.
Meanwhile police said that they are inquiring the matter.
