On Wednesday (3rd September), Congress leader Krishna Nand Tripathi attacked a police constable posted in the security team of former Jharkhand minister.

According to media reports, the Congress leader slapped and abused the constable during a traffic jam in Latehar district of Jharkahnd. The incident has sparked outrage among the police force, with a case now registered against the leader.

Constable Ravindra Rikhiyashan filed a complaint against the leader. He works in Tripathi’s security detail. He said that the former minister lost his cool when his car got stuck in traffic around 1:30 pm on Wednesday, 3rd September, during the Karam puja. 

According to the FIR, Tripathi asked the constable to get down and clear the road, but when the situation did not move quickly, he began shouting.

“As we tried to manage the situation, Neta ji arrived and began hurling abuses,” Rikhiyashan narrated his ordeal. Tripathi also slapped him and called him unfit for the job.

The constable later approached police and filed a complaint. A zero FIR was registered at Daltonganj Nagar police station and will now be transferred to Latehar for further investigation.

Jyoti Lal Rajwar, the officer-in-charge of Daltonganj Town police station, said that sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita have been invoked.

Tripathi, who has served as Rural Development, Labour, Employment & Training, and Panchayati Raj minister in Jharkhand, has denied the allegations.

He said he did not assault or abuse anyone and claimed that the FIR was filed “out of revenge.” 

The leader further said, “I only asked my bodyguards to be more alert, got the passage cleared, and then left for the Circuit House. I did not assault or abuse anyone. Everything is visible in the CCTV. When they (the bodyguards) refused to move the vehicle, and I managed to get it cleared within a minute, they felt insulted. That is why they registered the FIR.”

Meanwhile, the Latehar Police Men’s Association strongly condemned the incident. In a letter to the state DGP, the association called it an attack on the dignity of uniformed personnel. 

Association president, Karan Singh, wrote that “If a leader feels a bodyguard is unfit, he must report it to senior officers, not assault him. The CCTV footage has clear evidence of the incident.”