Patna lathi charge: LS Speaker summons DM, SSP

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has summoned Patna district magistrate (DM) Chandrashekhar Singh and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra on August 30 over the alleged lathi charge on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Member of Parliament (MP) Janardhan Sigriwal, during a protest on July 13, a BJP leader said.

BJP has maintained that the lathi charge left a functionary of the party, Vijay Kumar Singh, dead and several others, including Sigriwal, injured.

The Patna administration, however, has cited his autopsy report and said the functionary died of heart disease and complications related to it.

Birla has summoned the DM and the SSP after Sigriwal filed a complaint alleging a conspiracy to kill him by police despite the fact that he identified himself as an MP. Sigriwal had suffered head injuries.

Bihar BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh said the DM and the SSP two have been summoned over the injuries Sigriwal and others suffered on July 13. “The Speaker wants to know what lead to the lathi charge.”

Mishra said he has no information about any summons.

The Speaker’s secretariat confirmed the two have been asked to appear before Birla on August 30.