Man thrashed, arrested after bid to manhandle Giriraj
“The bearded person dressed like a Moulvi came to me with a petition and asked me to look into it. I told him the Janta Darbar is over and he should have come on time. He then started shouting slogans against me. At one point of time, it appeared he would physically attack me,” the union minister later said.
A man who allegedly attempted to manhandle union minister Giriraj Singh at a public meeting in Bihar’s Begusarai on Saturday was thrashed by BJP supporters and later arrested by police.
According to eyewitnesses, the Lok Sabha MP from Begusarai had just concluded a public meeting at Balia and was walking down the stage when the man, later identified as Mohammad Sahjadu Zaman alias Saiky, approached him with a petition.
“The bearded person dressed like a Moulvi came to me with a petition and asked me to look into it. I told him the Janta Darbar is over and he should have come on time. He then started shouting slogans against me. At one point of time, it appeared he would physically attack me,” Singh later said.
He claimed the person was not talking in an appropriate manner. “He was overpowered by the people gathered there and handed over to the police later,” the minister said.
Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Maneesh said, “The person is in the custody of the police. We are investigating the matter”.
The union minister for rural development and panchayati raj later told reporters, “Tejashwi and Akhilesh Yadav will stand for persons who keep beard. But I am not scared.”
Saiky, a resident of Lakhminia in Begusarai, is the ward councillor and member of Aam Aadmi Party.
Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Begusarai range), Rasheed Zaman, said Saiky has been arrested and an FIR has been lodged against him at the Balia police station. “He is being questioned,” he said.