A screengrab of the incident.
Credit: X/@thehawkeyex
A passenger in the Vande Bharat train from Delhi to Bhopal was allegedly assaulted after he refused to exchange seats with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Rajeev Singh.
The MLA, who represents Bambina constituency in UP's Jhansi district had reportedly got a seat in the back of the compartment, while his family members were seated in the front, next to the man who allegedly refused to switch his seat.
Railway Superintendent of Police (Jhansi) Vipul Kumar Srivastava confirmed that the altercation occurred as Raj Prakash refused to do so and upon the second request by the MLA, Prakash reportedly got into a heated argument with him.
According to multiple media reports, the situation escalated when a man who was reportedly close to Singh boarded the train from Jhansi station and assaulted Raj Prakash.
There are reports that when the train reached Jhansi, the MLA’s associates — who were there to receive him — allegedly assaulted Prakash further, leaving him injured.
A video of the incident showing a few men assaulting the passenger has gone viral on social media.
On reaching Rani Kamlapati railway station in Bhopal, RPF inspector Rohit Chaturvedi said that Prakash refused to file a complaint despite being taken taken to the Government Railway Police (GRP) station.
Meanwhile, the GRP in Jhansi said they have registered a non-cognizable report after they received a complaint from Singh.