Vadodara: Cong MP brandishes gun at toll booth employees

Ahmedabad, Oct 12: The

MP who brandished his licensed

at employees manning a toll booth in

avers that he was not in the wrong despite CCTV footage of the incident clearly contradicting his version of events.

A FIR was today lodged against Vithal Radadiya. He represents Porbandar Lok Sabha constituency. Police have booked him under the Arms Act for threatening people.

When staff of the toll booth at Karjan village near Vadodara stopped his car on the night of Oct 10 and asked for the MP's identity card, the driver gave only its photocopy.

However, the toll attendant stressed that the original should be shown. Angered by this, Radadiya got out of the car and threatened to shoot the employees. The camera at the toll booth recorded his rant and even a few death threats.

Seeing the gun in Radadiya's hand, the occupants of other vehicles passing by the toll booth probably felt that discretion is the better part of valour. Not even one of the motorists intervened.

NDTV today telecast the footage and also a telephonic conversation with Radadiya. The MP first claimed that he had pulled out the gun because some 15-odd persons had gheraoed him.

To the query from the channel's anchor that nobody can be seen near his car, Radadiya replied that there was indeed a group at the scene.

Asking whether he should have let them attack him. Radadiya stressed: "I acted in self defence. Where is the police on a highway?"

He blamed the toll attendant for doubting his identity. "When I got down, I was called a bogus MP. If a person calls me a bogus MP, they say my card is false, what do I do?" Radadiya demanded to know.

Adding that "MPs don't have to pay toll", he abruptly ended the conversation since NDTV was not buying any of his arguments.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters in Delhi that the party will look into the issue and take action against Radadiya if he is found to have abused his power.

OneIndia News