Man charged after threatening voters to return money after poll defeat

New Delhi, July 13: An offence has been registered against a man who lost the panchayat elections for allegedly threatening people to return the money he had distributed during the polls in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.

The case was registered on Tuesday after a purported video surfaced on social media, in which the man identified as Raju Dayma is seen asking people to return the money following his loss in the elections for the post of sarpanch of Devran village panchayat in Manasa tehsil, an official said.

An offence under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (obscene act) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC has been registered against Dayma and his associate Kanhaiya Banzara at Rampura police station for threatening and beating up people, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sundar Singh Kalesh said.

More charges can be added against the accused for allegedly distributing money during the polls, he said.

The video shows the accused threatening people while asking them to return the money, he said, adding that the video was probably shot last week.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Mahesh Patidar said the video clearly showed that Mr Dayma had distributed money during the polls and he was seen asking for the same after his loss.

According to sources, the accused had allegedly recovered around ₹ 4 lakh from people following his defeat in the panchayat polls.