Its raining trouble on the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab. In a fresh trouble for the party and its Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, the Punjab Police on Saturday booked him along with some of his party activists on a complaint alleging that they had misbehaved with mediapersons at a rally in Bassi Pathana here a day before.
“After receiving the report of the DSP to whom an inquiry had been marked and after getting legal opinion in this regard, we registered a case against Bhagwant Mann and some of his party activists,” Fatehgarh Sahib SSP H S Bhullar said.
A case was registered on the statement of journalist Ranjodh Singh and other mediapersons against Mann under various sections of the IPC including 109, 153, 323, 341, 352, 355, 356, 427, 500, 504 and 149.
Some of these sections pertain to promoting enmity between different groups, punishment for voluntarily causing hurt, punishment for wrongful restraint, assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour person and mischief and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace.
The media persons had filed a complaint against Mann who along with his supporters allegedly misbehaved with them and used derogatory remarks against the media at a political rally in Bassi Pathana on Thursday.
After receiving a complaint, Fatehgarh Sahib SSP had directed Bassi Pathana DSP to conduct an inquiry and submit the report at the earliest.
The media persons told the SSP that Mann had arrived four hours late for Thursday's rally.
He allegedly instigated AAP volunteers against media persons present there and they manhandled the scribes and even damaged the camera of one of them, the complaint read. Mann even used the word “paid
media” which hurt the feeling of journalists, it said.
After the incident, Congress activists had burnt an effigy of Mann at Bassi Pathana.