india

Updated: Dec 06, 2019 21:44 IST

A Uttarakhand Congress leader claimed a BJP supporter chew off the tip of one of his fingers while he was selling onions cheaply to protest its high prices in Nainital on Friday. A case has been registered against the man, who, the BJP said was not linked to the party.

Congress district general secretary Nandan Mehra said he was trying to calm one Manish Bisht, who was hurling abuses at the protesting partymen, when he attacked his finger.

“He (Bisht) somehow got hold of my finger and chewed off its tip causing it to bleed. Meanwhile some of the party members called the police which nabbed him,” said Mehra.

Vice president of Congress Sevadal Ramesh Goswami said Bisht was shouting slogans, abusing and even misbehaving with women party workers in the group selling onions at Rs 30/kg at town’s Buddha Park area when Mehra intervened.

“I was just trying to calm him down as he was abusing all of us,” Mehra concurred before adding, “He was definitely a BJP member disrupting our protest by such despicable means.”

A video of the incident, however, shows Congress members were also pushing and shoving the man who was in an altercation with the group. The video however, doesn’t fully capture the events preceding the scuffle.

Haldwani police station SHO Vikram Rathore said initial investigation suggested Bisht was either drunk or under the influence of some drugs.

“A probe is on,” he added.

BJP district president Pradeep Bisht denied Manish was linked to the BJP.

“He has nothing to do with our party,” he said.