VADODRA: A ruling BJP corporator and member of the standing committee of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation ( VMC ) was tied to a tree and bashed up by people who had lost their homes 5 months back in a razing drive near the Bapod Pond on the outskirts of the city on the Waghodiya Road .

The corporator Hasmukh Patel was reportedly pushed by the accused and taken to an open space near the pond. Patel was present on the road along with VMC executive engineer Amrut Makwana to look into some civic complaints and development works in the area, the police said.

Patel was then tied to a tree by a mob and was badly beaten up. The mob kept asking him why were the houses that were constructed under the Indira Aavas Yojana razed by the civic body? Members of the mob were also seen asking him why were no notices issued by the VMC for the razing drive? A man also alleges that they were told that Patel was given notices that were to be issued to the residents, but he did not do so.

In a video of the incident that went viral, the corporator, Patel is seen defending himself stating that the process of the razing drive was an administrative one and the notices were issued by officials. He even said that he was merely a corporator of a ward and did not know what was happening at the city-level. The video clips were widely circulated over Whatsapp.

Some of those who were ousted from the slum near the pond said that they were given houses in a housing scheme for the urban poor, but it lacked basic amenities. Many believed that Patel had come to the spot to raze some shanties that were erected there by those who had returned from the housing scheme.

Mayor Bharat Dangar said that the razing drive was conducted several months back and all 118 beneficiaries were given houses at a nearby site in Bapod itself. “No grievances were made to us so far. The extreme nature of the incident of tying Patel to a tree and beating him up mercilessly reflects that civic issues may not be the reason. The motives could even be political,” said Dangar.

VMC executive engineer Amrut Makwana reached the spot soon after Patel said that he saw a scuffle between Patel and some people. “I tried to intervene, but they dragged him away. I then called the police who rescued him,” he said. He added that Patel had sought for an excavator to remove vegetation overgrowth in the area.

Deputy commissioner of police Sajjansinh Parmar said that around 70 people including both men and women had been detained by the police. He added that those who were detained had rushed to the Bapod police station to make representations. Parmar added that an offence regarding the incident was being registered.

Flags add to mystery

Flags of little-known outfit Bhilistan Lion Sena were also spotted in the area where the incident took place. Officials of the city police confirmed that the flags were found in the area. They added that any possible connection between the incident and people having connections with the outfit would be probed.

