Caught On Camera: Congress MLA Assaults Cooperative Bank Employees In Chhattisgarh

An MLA of the ruling Congress has landed in a controversy after he was caught on camera purportedly thrashing two employees of a cooperative bank in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district.

In Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district, a ruling Congress MLA was caught on camera allegedly thrashing two cooperative bank employees. Following the incident, employees of Surguja division cooperative banks declared a two-day strike to protest the assault and demand action against the legislator, Brihaspat Singh, after a video of the incident went viral on social media on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday in front of the Zilla Sahkari Kendriya Bank's Ramanujganj branch, and a video of it went viral on social media on Tuesday.

According to PTI, the Congress MLA from Ramanujganj Assembly admitted assaulting two district cooperative bank employees and claimed that constant complaints of irregularities against lender employees compelled him to take such action.

Surguja division includes five districts, including Balrampur-Ramanujganj. Cooperative banks play an important role in paddy procurement and the disbursement of short-term agricultural loans to state farmers.

A day after the incident, employees of cooperative banks in the Surguja division submitted a memorandum to the Inspector General of Police (Surguja range) in Ambikapur town (Surguja district) requesting action against the MLA.

According to the memorandum, Singh allegedly slapped and abused clerk Rajesh Pal and peon Arvind Singh outside the bank during office hours in front of hundreds of farmers.

Employees of cooperative banks are unable to perform their duties in such a situation, the memorandum said.

The incident was captured on surveillance cameras installed by the bank.  Singh can be seen on CCTV thrashing two people in front of a bank branch in Ramanujganj.

R K Khare, President of Zilla Sahkari Kendriya Bank Karamchari Sangh Ambikapur, told PTI that cooperative bank employees are angry and hurt over the assault on staffers.

It is the responsibility of public representatives to protect government employees and their interests, but what happens if they start torturing them? he asked.

To protest the incident, cooperative bank employees (from five districts in the Surguja region) will take two days off in groups on April 5 and 6, according to Khare. He warned that if no action is taken against the Congress MLA, protests would be held.