AURANGABAD: Three
BJP workers have been taken in to custody after they were accused of assaulting a journalist who had filmed them throwing money at supporters outside a counting booth.
The alleged incident took place on the premises of an engineering college in Tuljapur, about 265 km from here. The accused, supporters of BJP candidate Rana Jagjistsingh Patil, had turned up at the site to witness the counting process.
Supporters started celebrating outside the booth after it emerged that Patil had grabbed an early lead. One supporter climbed on the shoulders of another and started showering the crowd that had gathered with money. Trouble started when journalists started filming all this.
Ayyub Shaikh, a 28-year-old journalist with a local news channel, was brutally assaulted by the accused. Shaikh was rescued by on-duty cops who urged him to leave. Shaikh lodged a formal complaint on Friday.
Osmanabad superintendent of police Raj Tilak Roushan said, “We have booked the accused trio on charges of unlawful assembly, voluntarily causing hurt, and for mischief causing damage.”
Police sources said in addition to IPC sections, the trio also faced charges under relevant sections of the
Maharashtra Police
Act, 1951. The accused have been identified as Vijay Gangne, Navnath alias Munna Tingre and Kuldeep Magar. Bails apply to all sections slapped in the case.