RJD MLA Dinesh Kumar Singh’s SUV being towed away from the Assembly on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

RJD MLA Dinesh Kumar Singh’s SUV being towed away from the Assembly on Monday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Men-in-uniform countered the high-handedness of an MLA on Monday by towing away his vehicle to the police station.

RJD MLA from Jagdishpur Dinesh Kumar Singh may face police action for leaving his vehicle parked in the middle of the first and second entrance gates of the state Legislature inconveniencing others. The incident occurred after the security personnel insisted on checking his vehicle, as he had been taking prohibited items into the Legislature premises.

Last Friday, the first day of the monsoon session, Singh tried to enter the House with a gunnysack of fertilisers.

Around 9am, Singh’s SUV pulled up at the first entrance of the State Legislature. After passing the mirror scanner check, the vehicle reached the second gate, when securitymen asked Singh to open its doors for check- ing. He said: “Why do you need to check my car? I am an MLA and am going inside for the zero hour. I am getting late, let me go.”

A securityman said: “Sorry sir, we cannot allow your car to enter the Assembly unless we complete checking the car. You better co-operate with us.”

The MLA didn’t allow them to do their job and left the spot with his driver, leaving the locked vehicle parked near the gate. Before leaving, Singh said: “Okay, if you do not allow me to go inside in my car, I am leaving it here and will not move it. You do whatever you want to do with it.”

The security personnel kept scratching their heads. Many vehicles were inconvenienced while going inside. The 45-minute wait ended when Sachivalaya deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Manish Kumar called up the wrecker to remove the SUV. Ten minutes later, the vehicle was towed away to Sachivalaya police station.

In his defence, the MLA said: “I have not committed a crime. In the name of checking, they have insulted me. They did not allow me to enter the Assembly and stopped my car for no reason.”

Asked about the action against the MLA’s SUV, the DSP said: “We do not want to be rude with any legislator, but he did not leave any option. How can anybody leave his/her car in the middle of the road and disappear. We first informed the Speaker and the House chief marshal. I called up on the MLA’s cellphone number, but he did not respond.”

Asked about the possibility of taking action against Singh, the DSP said: “We will lodge a case against him for preventing government officials from carrying out their duty under Section 353 of the Indian Penal Code.”

District magistrate N. Saravana Kumar told The Telegraph: “We have all the evidence captured on CCTV cameras. The district administration will bring the matter to the notice of the Speaker.”