A local corporator from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Vadodara was tied to a tree and beaten up by a group of people, including women, over encroachment removal drive by Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) on Tuesday.
The video of the entire incident showing the corporator Hasmukh Patel being tied with torn shirt and being abused by a group of people surrounding him went viral on social media. He was apparently targeted as locals were angry over their homes being razed by VMC “without any prior notice”.
The group of locals somehow learnt that the VMC office had sent a prior notice about its intent to their corporator Hasmukh Patel. This infuriated the locals who later confronted Patel, dragging him and tying him to a tree. The locals then began grilling and abusing Patel on why they were not informed about the notice, to which Patel kept denying having received any notice from local government body.
"As per the system, commissioner orders the collector. This land belongs to the collector. I never get to know these things as I am mere councillor of a small ward. What do we know about the entire city...I have no idea," Patel was heard telling the crowd.
However, the locals continued to blame him for their plight and continue their beating and abuses. It is only after the arrival of police could the corporator be freed. The police also picked up about 30 persons for further interrogation in the incident.
Hasmukh Patel was earlier involved in an incident of misconduct on August 15 this year. In yet another video that went viral on social media shows him disrespecting the tri-colour. Patel was seen throwing the national flag on the road and moving towards his car before leaving the place.
Published 03 October 2017, 13:18 IST