MLA Vijay Mishra of Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh was on Friday detained by the Madhya Pradesh police in connection with an FIR lodged against him in his home State for allegedly grabbing his relative’s house and extorting money from him.
Mr. Mishra was detained from Agar Malwa a day after he released a video on social media expressing a fear that he “could be murdered” or arrested by the U.P. police any day.
Bhadohi SP Ram Badan Singh said the legislator from Gyanpur was detained in Agar Malwa on their request. A police team from Bhadohi would bring the MLA back to U.P. “He will be arrested and sent to jail and put on trial”, the SP stated.
The co-accused in the FIR, MLA wife Ramlali Mishra, herself an MLC, and their son, Vishnu, were absconding, the police said.
On August 4, Mr. Mishra, a four-time MLA from Gyanpur, who enjoys the clout of a ‘bahubali’, was booked along with his wife and son on charges of wrongful confinement to extort property, putting a person in fear of death to commit extortion, house-tresspass and criminal intimidation.
Mr. Mishra’s relative, Krishna Mohan Tiwari, accused the MLA of forcibly occupying his ancestral house in Dhanapur since 2001 and seizing control of his mining firm and illegally depositing the returns into the accounts of his Ms Ramlali and Mr. Vishnu.
In the video released on Thursday, Mr. Mishra said he and his family were being falsely implicated and harassed. His son’s wife was pregnant, he pointed out. Accusing the police of making his life a living hell, he said, “My only fault is that I am a Brahmin”.
Zilla panchayat polls
Mr. Mishra hinted that he was being targetted due to the upcoming zilla panchayat elections in which his opponents wanted some “bahubali” (muscleman) from Ballia, Varanasi or Chandauli to contest instead of a local candidate.
Reacting to the video, the SP said the MLA’s allegations were baseless. The police were not working in a biased manner. They weres only taking action on the basis of an FIR lodged against the MLA by his own relative. “Police will take further action only after an impartial probe”, he asserted.
The Additional Superintendent of Police of Agar Malwa, Kamal Maurya, said Mr. Mishra would be handed over to the U.P. police, who were on their way. When asked if he would be produced before a local magistrate first, he said police were inquiring with him and would act according to the law.
Mr. Mishra won from Gyanpur for three consecutive terms on Samajwadi Party ticket, but in 2017, after being denied ticket, he fought on the symbol of the Nishad Party of Sanjay Nishad and retained his seat despite a huge vote in favour of the BJP.
The Nishad Party is currently an ally of the BJP.
