Video: Chhattisgarh Congress MLA Slaps Bank Staff In Public

An MLA of the ruling Congress has landed in a controversy after he was caught on camera purportedly thrashing two employees of a cooperative bank in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur-Ramanujganj district.

As a video of the incident surfaced on social media on Tuesday, employees of cooperative banks under the Surguja division announced going on mass leave for two days from Wednesday (April 5) to protest against the assault and demand action against the legislator, Brihaspat Singh.

The Congress MLA from the Ramanujganj Assembly seat admitted assaulting the two staffers of the district cooperative bank and claimed constant complaints of irregularities against employees of the lender compelled him to take such a step.

The incident took place on Monday in front of the Ramanujganj branch of the Zilla Sahkari Kendriya Bank and a video of it went viral on social media on Tuesday.

Balrampur-Ramanujganj falls under the Surguja division which comprises five districts.

Cooperative banks play a significant role in paddy procurement and disbursement of short-term agricultural loans to farmers in the state.

A day after the incident, employees of cooperative banks under the Surguja division submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, to the Inspector General of Police (Surguja range) in Ambikapur town (Surguja district) seeking to take action against the MLA.

As per the memorandum, Singh allegedly slapped and abused clerk Rajesh Pal and peon Arvind Singh outside the bank in front of hundreds of farmers during office hours.

In such a situation, cooperative banks employees are unable to discharge their duties, it said.

The incident was recorded in bank-installed surveillance cameras.

In CCTV footage, Singh can be seen thrashing two persons in front of the bank branch in Ramanujganj.

Talking to reporters, the President of Zilla Sahkari Kendriya Bank Karamchari Sangh Ambikapur R K Khare said cooperative bank employees are angry and pained over the assault on the staffers.

It is the responsibility of public representatives to protect government employees and their interests, but if they themselves start torturing them where they will go? he asked.

To protest against the incident, cooperative bank employees (of five districts of Surguja region) will go on two days leave in groups on April 5 and 6, said Khare.

If no action is taken against the Congress MLA they will stage demonstrations, he warned.

When contacted, an unrepentant Singh accused bank employees of misbehaving with farmers and committing financial irregularities.

The bank employees misbehaved with a 70-year-old farmer, Lakhan Singh, a resident of Mahaveer Ganj, when he went to withdraw his money, claimed the Congress legislator.

Misbehaviour with farmers will not be tolerated, he said.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded the removal of Singh as MLA for the violent act.

"The Congress party should immediately take action against Singh for committing such a violent act. He should be dismissed from the post of MLA," state BJP spokesperson Kedar Kashyap said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)