Clerk assaulted by MLA suspended

Achalpur MLA Kadu had slapped Hagavane for allegedly demanding bribe from one Ankush Raut who had been shortlisted for posting as medical officer in Amravati. Raut was seeking a government order for his appointment as medical officer in Kadu’s constituency.

Minister for Public Health Suresh Shetty said he was concerned about the allegation made against Hagavane. “We need to differentiate between the two instances,one of the MLA slapping the clerk and the second of why he slapped,the bribe he had allegedly asked for. For me,it is more important to look into the second matter as we have tried hard to root this out.”

Shetty said an inquiry had been ordered into the matter. “We are also checking if a police case can be registered in the matter to examine if more persons are involved in such bribe for post incidents.” He said the department had decided to ensure that all new recruits should be posted within their districts as a priority,which would have been applicable even in the case of Raut.

Meanwhile,employees in Mantralaya wore black badges on Saturday in protest against the incident. Maharashtra State Government Employees’ Central Confederation general secretary Subhash Gangurde said a delegation would meet Assembly Speaker Dilip Walse-Patil on Tuesday to seek action against the MLA.

The Marine Drive police had,on Friday evening,registered a case against Kadu for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty and assault or use criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty.