Indore building over which Akash Vijayvargiya hit official razed

The building at the centre of the controversy involving local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Akash Vijayvargia was demolished by the civic body in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city on Friday.

The “unsafe” building was demolished in presence of a police team to prevent any further untoward incident, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) officials said.

Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of the BJP’s general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, was arrested on June 26 for assaulting an IMC official with a cricket bat and released on bail on Monday.

A video of the incident, in which the first-time legislator is seen hitting Dhirendra Bais while he was supervising the demolition of a dilapidated building owned by a BJP worker in Indore’s Ganji area, was widely circulated on social media.

Akash Vijayvargiya has been issued show cause notice by his party asking him to explain why he thrashed Bais. The BJP notice for his action last month came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled his strong disapproval of the first-time legislator’s conduct.

A team led by IMC deputy commissioner Mahendra Singh Chauhan reached the Ganji Compound on Friday morning but started the building’s demolition only after the arrival of a police force, an officer said.

Chauhan said the cracks had developed in the two-storey house and it was on the brink of collapse.

The owner of the house Bherulal was shifted in a flat constructed under Prime Minister Urban Housing Scheme in Bhuri Tekri area, said an IMC official.

Also read: Video shows ex-CM Narayan Rane’s MLA son Nitesh throwing slush on engineer

Bherulal, who had been living in the building for the last 50 years, said it was not the house but memories of his life which were razed. He had moved the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court to get a stay on the house’s demolition but the court refused to intervene.

The court, however, said IMC to arrange alternate temporary accommodation for Bherulal and his family.