Maha MLA Bachchu Kadu gets two years in jail over 2017 agitation in Nashik; obtains bail

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A court here on Wednesday sentenced independent MLA and former Maharashtra minister Omprakash alias Bachchu Kadu to two years' rigorous imprisonment for obstructing government work and trying to assault an official during a 2017 agitation.

Kadu, leader of the Prahar Sanghatana who supports the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, subsequently secured bail from the court.

His lawyer said they will file an appeal in the High Court against the sentence.

On July 24, 2017, the Prahar Sanghatana had staged an agitation outside the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) over the issue of non-utilization of three per cent funds reserved for the specially-abled persons.

As per the prosecution, Kadu, who led the agitation, abused and tried to hit Nashik commissioner Abhishek Krishna.

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The NMC administration then lodged a complaint against Kadu under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty) and 504 (intentional insult or provocation) of the Indian Penal Code.

On Wednesday, District Judge V S Kulkarni sentenced Kadu to two years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.

Reacting to the verdict, Kadu, MLA from Achalpur, said nobody was interested in knowing what prompted him to stage the agitation.

Speaking to reporters on the premises of the Maharashtra legislature in Mumbai, the MLA said, "I staged the agitation as NMC was not utilising the funds meant for Divyang people....The probe should have been about why the funds are not utilised.

"We had written letters to the then commissioner but he never acted. Funds for Divyang people lay unutilised for more than two years," he claimed.

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