Protest stage collapse: Cops book 'contractor' for negligence; Cong alleges conspiracy

Bhopal, Mar 12 (PTI) Police on Wednesday registered a case of negligence against a man linked to a Hindutva outfit, days after a stage allegedly erected by him to host Congress leaders in Bhopal collapsed, injuring several among them.

The police action followed a complaint lodged by Dharmendra Singh Chouhan, state president of the farmers' wing of Madhya Pradesh Congress, accusing Chandrashekhar Tiwari of deliberately erecting a shaky stage.

Tiwari is the convenor of Sanskriti Bachao Manch.

The incident occurred on Monday when Congress leaders were addressing protesters near Rangmahal Square before taking out a march on the assembly complex against the state government's "anti-farmer" policies.

The incident left more than ten leaders of Congress injured. Some of them had suffered serious injuries, the party had said.

"Police registered a case of negligence against Chandrashekhar Tiwari, who was given the contract for constructing the stage for the protest, following a complaint lodged by Dharmendra Singh Chouhan," said TT Nagar police station in-charge Sudhir Kumar Arjariya.

He said further investigation is underway.

Arjariya said Tiwari told police that there was no written contract for constructing the stage, following which he assigned the job to other tent house operators.

Meanwhile, Tiwari claimed Dharmendra Singh Chouhan had contacted him on March 9, but he (Tiwari) declined the work.

"However, on Chouhan's request, I assigned this job to others," Tiwari claimed.

Tiwari further said he was asked to make sitting arrangements for 75-100 people on the stage but more than 300-400 people gathered, leading to its collapse.

"The work was done by other tent owners," he added.

Dharmendra Singh Chouhan, MP Congress chief Jitu Patwari's political advisor Rajiv Singh, senior leader Manak Agrawal, state unit general secretary Roshani Yadav, and state Congress Mahila Sewa Dal chief Rajkumari Raghuvanshi were among the injured. PTI ADU NSK