The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the Bhanupratappur assembly by-election in Chhattisgarh, Brahmanand Netam, on Monday got relief from the High Court of Jharkhand which said no coercive action must be taken against him.
An hour before the polling was to end in Bhanupratappur, a Jharkhand police team reached the Kilepal polling and tried to take Netam to Kanker.
But BJP party workers protested. As the news spread, BJP by-election in-charge Brijmohan Agrawal and MLA Shivratan Sharma took Netam in their custody, stating he had got relief from the High Court.
Kanker Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha told The Pioneer that Netam was being taken into custody for interrogation. He was to be brought to Kanker for questioning.
The Jharkhand Police urged Netam to cooperate to complete the legal formalities. But as the protests continued, the police had to complete the formalities at the spot, Sinha said.
Netam’s counsel Kumar Harsh said a petition was filed in the High Court of Jharkhand. Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi gave relief to Netam. The next date of hearing is on January 16, 2023. Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel said the relief given to Netam is a moral defeat for the Congress.