‘He is a novice’: Kailash Vijayvargiya defends son who thrashed civic official

Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has defended his son Akash Vijayvargiya, MLA from Indore who was arrested for beating up a civic body official, saying it was not a big issue.

Akash Vijayvargiya was released on bail on Sunday morning and welcomed with flowers and garlands by his supporters and relatives. The 34-year-old first-time MLA who represents Indore-3 Assembly segment was caught on TV cameras assaulting Indore Municipal Corporation officer Dhirendra Singh Bais with a cricket bat while opposing demolition of a dilapidated house.

Watch | Kailash Vijayvargiya defends son accused of thrashing civic official

Kailash Vijayvargiya, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s national general secretary, while speaking to reporters termed it an unfortunate incident.

“Both Akash and IMC commissioner are novices and they mishandled the situation. The officers shouldn’t behave arrogantly with public representatives. They (Akash and IMC commissioner) need to learn a lot and should increase their understanding to prevent recurrence of such an incident,” he said on Monday.

He said, “According to rules, the municipal corporation’s officers shouldn’t have released an order to demolish any residential building during the rainy season. If it was so important, they should have made necessary arrangements for the accommodation of residents.”

Akash was arrested on June 26 after he allegedly hit the IMC official, who was leading a municipal corporation team to demolish a structure which belonged to a BJP worker, with a cricket bat. He was booked under sections 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharging his duty), 294 (obscene acts/using obscene words), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code.

A special court in Bhopal had granted him bail in two cases on Saturday and he was released on Sunday after its order reached the jail.