NCP MLA denies slapping official after video goes viral

A video purportedly showing NCP MLA from Karjat, Suresh Lad allegedly slapping a deputy collector in Maharashtra’s Raigad district has gone viral on social media, even as the legislator denied having assaulted the official.

The Nationalist Congress Party MLA was caught on camera allegedly slapping Deputy Collector (land acquisition) Abhay Kargutkar, reportedly after a disagreement over compensation to farmers for land acquisition.

The incident took place last Thursday during a meeting called by Kargutkar to settle disputes about land acquisition for an oil pipeline.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told PTI that the MLA has denied slapping the official. “Why is the official silent? Why hasn’t he lodged any police complaint, if he was indeed assaulted,” Malik said.

The location where the alleged incident took place was not a government office but the premises of a leading corporate house, another NCP leader said.

“Maybe that’s why the official, who was acting as an agent of that corporate, is keeping mum,” he said.

Meanwhile, an official said that Kargutkar has lodged a complaint with Palghar District Collector over the alleged assault by NCP MLA.  In a letter to the Collector, Kargutkar has said he was assaulted by Lad.