Tej Pratap, Tejaswi

New Delhi, Jan. 2: A Mumbai mob pounced on two women and got away with it on New Year night but a different fate befell Lalu Prasad’s two sons a few hours earlier.

Tejaswi and Tej Pratap, the sons of the railway minister, were beaten up by a bunch of boys on New Year’s Eve after they allegedly harassed some girls here, police sources said today.

Lalu Prasad’s sons were returning from a party near Delhi’s border with Haryana, and allegedly teased the girls sitting in a neighbouring car at a traffic signal, the sources said.

A group of boys with the girls abused Tejaswi and Tej Pratap before stepping out and hitting the two, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan accompanying the minister’s sons has told the police, the sources said.

“The RPF constable himself joined the scuffle, during which he lost his revolver,” a police source said. A police official, who was in the car along with the RPF jawan, was also beaten up.

Neither Lalu Prasad’s sons nor any girl has filed any complaint of either assault or harassment but the alleged incident was reported to the police because of a mandatory requirement to register loss of weapons.

The RPF jawan went to the police as government security personnel are required to lodge a complaint if they lose their weapons.

But a source close to Lalu Prasad denied that the minister’s sons were involved in teasing, insisting that it was only a scuffle between boys. “There were no girls on the scene,” the source said. Lalu Prasad’s sons, he said, were “simple boys” who did not get into “such situations”.

“The boys and the security personnel were the ones who were beaten up. The boys were up against a bunch of goons,” he added.

But the police sources said the RPF jawan had a different version. Following the fracas, the car with the boys and girls sped away, the constable has told them, the police said.

Lalu Prasad’s sons were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for bruises.

A case of violence against a law-enforcement official has been registered. A separate case has been lodged on the missing gun.

Tejaswi, 17, is in the Delhi Ranji team and is hoping to be selected in the India under-19 cricket team, the source close to the minister said. Tej Pratap, 19, has shown “some inclination” towards politics, the source added.