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BJP MLA Akash, Son Of Kailash Vijayvargiya, Arrested For Thrashing Civic Official

Municipal corporation officers were reportedly carrying out an anti-encroachment drive when Akash Vijayvargiya thrashed them with a cricket bat.

Indore MLA and BJP leader Akash Vijayvargiya was arrested on Wednesday after he was caught on camera thrashing a municipal corporation officer with a cricket bat. He is the son of party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

The incident happened when a team of municipal corporation officers were on an anti-encroachment drive in the Ganji Compound area of Indore, according to NDTV.

“You should leave within five minutes or else whatever happens after that will be your responsibility,” Vijayvargiya told the officers, the NDTV report added.

Vijayvargiya told India Today that the officers were “illegally demolishing a building”. “The owner of the building paid the corporation to demolish it and some people were staying in the building.

“I tried to reach out to the corporation, they didn’t take my calls. I have a responsibility towards the people who voted for me,” Vijayvargiya told India Today.

The zonal officer of the Indore Municipal Corporation, Dheeraj Bais, told The Times of India that he tried to make them understand the risk that the building poses.

“The building is in a dilapidated state and poses a high risk to the lives of those living in it. But they did not listen to us and thrashed and beat me up with a cricket bat,” Bais told The Times of India.

Vijayvargiya, according to PTI, said he had spoken to the municipal commissioner and sought extension of stay for the tenants in that house, which authorities claimed was dilapidated.

“The house was not in that bad condition. Some officials of the municipal corporation are razing even those houses which are in good condition by declaring them dilapidated. This is a conspiracy between owners of the houses and officials. They want to raze the houses so that leaders of the ruling Congress can take possession of the land. We are opposing this,” the MLA told PTI.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.