Dalit engineer assault: UP BJP worker granted bail, receives hero’s welcome
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Lucknow: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker accused of assaulting a Dalit government official in Uttar Pradesh was released on bail on Friday, following which he was garlanded by party members and family supporters outside Mau district jail. The Allahabad High Court granted bail to the accused, Munna Bahadur, triggering sharp reactions after visuals of his welcome went viral on social media.
Munna Bahadur is accused of attacking Lal Singh, a superintending engineer with the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, on August 23. The incident, which was captured on video, shows Lal Singh being surrounded by a group allegedly led by Munna Bahadur. During the interaction, Munna Bahadur is seen standing up and striking the engineer with a slipper.
Speaking to local media, Lal Singh said the assault was completely unprovoked.
“People usually come to our office to report issues. Munna Bahadur arrived with 15 to 20 people and, without raising any complaint, began verbally abusing me. He did not explain any problem and suddenly started hitting me with his shoes. He also punched me. My colleagues intervened and rescued me,” Singh said.
When asked whether the BJP worker had come to raise concerns related to electricity supply, the engineer maintained that no such issue was ever mentioned during the interaction.
Following the circulation of the assault video and the widespread public outrage it sparked, Munna Bahadur claimed he was being unfairly targeted and described himself as the real victim.
“We have been suffering from this problem for 17 years. We went there only to inform them about our electricity-related grievances. Instead, they accused us of netagiri and asked us to leave,” Munna Bahadur told reporters earlier.
He further alleged that the situation escalated after one of the officers grabbed his collar.
Based on Lal Singh’s complaint, a case was registered, and Munna Bahadur was arrested and sent to jail. Even before his release, several BJP leaders publicly came out in support of the accused.
Former BJP MLA Ram Iqbal Singh, in a Facebook post, said Munna Bahadur Singh had visited the power department to highlight electricity supply issues affecting dozens of villages and had been “falsely implicated” in the case. He also welcomed the Allahabad High Court’s decision to grant bail.
