‘Will do it again’: BJP MLA picked up by police for turning up with bulldozer to clear ‘encroachment’

On November 19, Patel and his supporters turned up with a bulldozer, threatening to evict the residents and region encroachments from the Mahadevan temple’s onshore successful Devra village, starring to a tense concern successful the area. As soon arsenic the JCB moved towards the bound wall, the radical surviving connected the onshore resorted to stone-pelting, resulting successful injuries to astir four-five persons, constabulary said.

On Sunday, section person Santosh Tiwari sat connected indefinite fast, demanding the removal of encroachment made connected 9 acres of onshore adjacent the temple. Patel and his supporters said a section gross tribunal had ruled successful favour of eviction but that the medication had not complied with the order.

Mauganj District Magistrate Ajay Shrivastava said, “This full contention was implicit the demolition of a bound partition adjacent the temple. As per the Supreme Court guidelines, a 15-day announcement was given. The operation was deemed amerciable by the section tribunal and demolition orders were issued. It is important to workout caution successful delicate cases wherever 2 communities are involved.”

On Thursday, Patel, who was taken into preventive custody, managed to talk to the section media.

He said those who had built houses connected the premises had already been allotted onshore elsewhere by section courts, but that the residents inactive did not leave.

“I was compelled to region the encroachment myself. As soon arsenic I americium released from here, I volition spell straight to region the encroachments, taking 500 radical on with me,” Patel said.

Mauganj Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Pandey told The Indian Express: “The MLA has been taken into preventive custody. I person been astatine the spot for the past 2 days and person deputed a constabulary unit of astir 180 officers to support the peace. There is encroachment successful this country and determination are families from Hindu and Muslim communities that unrecorded here. The substance is being heard successful a section court.”

BJP person and authorities curate Lakhan Patel, who was dispatched to talk to the MLA, said: “I met with him. We spoke for astir 3 hours. His lone request is to region the encroachment.” He besides said if determination was immoderate grounds for the MLA’s assertion that residents of the onshore shouted “anti-national slogans”, past determination would beryllium an investigation.