Police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari for illegally breaking the lock of a sealed house.
“An FIR has been registered against Manoj Tiwari on the complaint by Deputy Director MCD, North Zone in Gokulpuri police station,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Kumar Thakur.
He has been booked under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 461 and 465 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act.
A video footage of Tiwari breaking a sealed lock of a house in an unauthorised colony during his Sunday visit to Gokulpuri went viral on social media. The BJP leader was seen protesting against the municipal officials’ “pick and choose” system.
Even after an FIR was registered against him, Tiwari once again reached Gokalpuri to break seal of the same house that had been replaced by the municipal corporation. He was accompanied by BJP workers and locals.
However, he returned saying municipal corporation officials assured him of looking into the matter in two days.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress slammed Tiwari’s his act as a “drama” and “publicity stunt”.
Senior Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely said his party’s ‘Nyay Yudh’ campaign against sealing has “rattled” the BJP and Tiwari.
“The act of breaking seal is drama and publicity stunt by Tiwari. We are fighting for desealing of the properties, not breaking seals,” he told reporters.
He alleged corruption in BJP-ruled municipal corporations demanding the Centre to “dissolve” the civic bodies.
“We however agree with Tiwari saying there was corruption in municipal corporations. The Centre should dissolve them,” he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also trained guns against Tiwari and the BJP over sealing issue.
“The BJP and the municipal corporations ruled by the party are hand in glove and trying to misguide the people over the issue. Tiwari is enacting drama by breaking seal placed by the corporation,” Senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey said.
Pandey asked Tiwari to apologise to Delhi people for “mocking” them and telling “lies” over the issue.
AAP leader Atishi Marlena said BJP was doing “drama” over the whole issue.
“If they were serious, they would stop sealing through an ordinance which BJP ruled Central government can bring easily,” she said.
The three municipal corporations in Delhi are carrying out sealing drive under supervision of a Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee, taking action against violations of city’s master plan and other irregularities.
(With agency inputs)