BJP MLA held for beating officer moves court

BJP MLA Akash Vijayvargiya, arrested for assaulting a municipal corporation official with a cricket bat on Wednesday, moved the sessions court here on Thursday after the magistrate’s court denied him bail.

The sessions court reserved its order after the issue of jurisdiction came up, as there is a special fast-track court set up in Bhopal for handling cases against MPs and MLAs.

Akash’s lawyers pleaded that though a special court has been set up for trial of cases against legislators, the sessions court can very well decide on bail pleas. The sessions court reserved its order on the issue.

Akash, son of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, was arrested Wednesday after he was caught on TV cameras while assaulting the civic official while opposing demolition of an old house.

The judicial magistrate court Wednesday turned down his bail plea and sent him to judicial remand for 14 days.

Meanwhile, the Indore Municipal Commission (IMC) on Thursday terminated 21 employees, who were rallying in support of the BJP leader instead of their colleagues during the incident.

According to officials, these employees were identified from the video footage that went viral on Wednesday in which Akash Vijayvargiya was seen thrashing civic officials with a cricket bat.

Few of these officers were even seen at the court with Vijayvargiya after his arrest later in the day.