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Jaipur: A Cockroach Janta Party delegation, including co-convener Ashutosh Ranka, has been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, days after they were allegedly attacked during a visit to a school in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The attack on members of the CJP on Friday, August 21, at Rampura Kanwarpura village triggered a row with the outfit and local villagers lodging cross FIRs against each other and accusing one another of assault and creating a ruckus.

The CJP team was inspecting a government school that was operating from a cattle enclosure after its building was declared unsafe. Locals allegedly pushed them out of the village as the outfit entered the premises to inspect the school. CJP alleged that its team was attacked and pelted with stones by “BJP goons”, resulting in a physical confrontation.

‘Used casteist words’

Following the attack, Bhagwan Sahay Dhanka, a villager, filed a complaint accusing Ranka of insulting him with casteist words, using abusive language against women, and assaulting villagers. He said he and a few villagers were injured in the scuffle with the CJP team.

“At around 9 am, Ashutosh Ranka of CJP came to our village with 50-60 people on the pretext of inspecting a school. They started abusing me and the villagers. They also used abusive language against the women of our village; when the villagers and I tried to reason with them, they started beating us,” Dhanka said in his complaint, according to The Indian Express.

The complainant added, “They insulted me and other villagers by abusing us with casteist words. There is tremendous anger among the villagers due to the incident.”

Based on Dhanka’s complaint, the police registered the FIR against CJP workers under Section 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 126 (wrongful restraint), 189 (unlawful assembly), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the BNS.

Attacked with bricks and sticks: CJP’s complaint

The Cockroach Janta Party, on the other hand, lodged a complaint claiming some anti-social elements attacked them during the school visit.

CJP member Rekha Sharma said in her complaint, “The CJP team led by Ashutosh Ranka reached the village, but our vehicles were stopped at the village border, away from the school, and we started going on foot. We saw that at some distance before the school, some anti-social elements were shouting abuses.”

“We repeatedly requested them to listen to us, that we have only come to inspect the school on the invitation of villagers themselves, but our team was attacked from all directions with bricks, sticks, and tubes filled with stones,” she said.

At least four or five goons surrounded one CJP member each and assaulted them brutally with the intent of fatality, said Sharma.

Fractured hand, serious injuries sustained by CJP volunteers

The CJP member said the attack left volunteer Surendra alias Sanju Verma with a fractured hand and serious injuries. Another volunteer, Salman, was surrounded and brutally beaten by the group, leaving him with serious injuries all over his body.

“Dust was thrown into Rekha Sharma’s eyes, and she was attacked, shoved, and beaten from all sides. She suffered a serious injury to her shoulder,” CJP said.

The group further alleged that Lalchand Sharma orchestrated the attack, which was extensively documented on video.

“The villagers who came to rescue us claimed that Kamal Pradhan and Shankar Bagda had planned the assault,” said CJP, adding that many attackers are visible and action must be taken against them.

The FIR filed by CJP invokes charges including unlawful assembly, intentional insult to provoke violence, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, and property damage ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

Both FIRs were lodged at the Shivdaspura police station under the Jaipur City (South) jurisdiction.