Sardhana MLA and firebrand BJP leader from the area Sangeet Som seems to have courted yet another controversy. A farmer from Moman village in Sardhana tehsil has made a serious allegation against Som, accusing him of not returning his “Rs 53 lakh partnership money”.

On Wednesday, farmer Rahul Singh arrived at the office of the Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police Manjil Saini with a written complaint against Sangeet Som and his brother Sagar Som, seeking her intervention to lodge an FIR. He was accompanied by his grandmother Piroj Bala and grandfather Joshua.

In his complaint, Singh has said the brothers threatened him and his family members with dire consequences when he asked his money back. He accused the Soms of misusing their power.

A farmer from Moman village in Sardhana tehsil has made a serious allegation against BJP MLA Sangeet Som, accusing him of not returning his “Rs 53 lakh partnership money”. https://t.co/mNtrr6VCew

Reports: Swati Sharma for @TheStatesmanLtd pic.twitter.com/85XHGk8MC1

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When asked about the allegations, the MLA hit back at Singh and said the latter was trying to malign his reputation at the behest of his political rivals. Calling the allegations baseless, Som said it was a planned strategy to tarnish his image before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Singh, however, said the MLA was lying. The farmer belongs to Som’s native Rajpur Moman village in Sardhana tehsil of Meerut.

According to Singh, he had a partnership with the MLA in his brick kiln business for which he had paid Rs 53 lakh in 2012. He said he had raised this money by selling his 9 bigha land and livestock. Sangeet Som became an MLA after that, Singh said, adding he withdrew his partnership in 2015 and demanded his money back.

Alleging that Som did not return his money, Singh said he convened a panchayat in the village to get the issue resolved. At the panchayat, Som reportedly gave an assurance that he would return the money. But he didn’t, said Singh, adding that another panchayat was then called in July 2016 ahead of the UP Assembly elections to put some pressure on him.

“He (Som) then made a registered agreement transferring his wife’s 7 bigha land to my father’s name and said he would take the land back in one year after returning the money,” Singh said, adding that Som did not keep his promise again and started threatening them with dire consequences if they did not stop complaining .

The farmer finally decided to approach the police and reached  the SSP’s office on Wednesday along with his grandparents to register a complaint.

“We now desperately need our money back as the weddings of my two sisters have been fixed,” said Singh.

The MLA has however denied that he ever owned a kiln field. To this, Singh said Som was running an unregistered kiln field on Radhna road and “anybody can verify it”. He said the MLA never showed interest in getting a partnership deed made in writing because of which he withdrew from the deal. No FIR had been lodged till the filing of this report.

The local police said the SSP was not in office when Rahul went there. He then went to SP (Rural) Rajesh Kumar’s office, who too was not available. Singh then approached ADG Prashant Kumar’s office and handed over the complaint. Prashant Kumar, however, said he was unaware of this as he was out of station on Wednesday. The SP, on the other hand, said he had been siezed of the matter and would look into it.