Ajit Jogi, facing FIR for forgery, admitted in hospital

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, facing an FIR in a fake caste certificate case, was admitted to a private hospital in Delhi-NCR on Thursday night after he complained of breathing problem, his party leader here said on Friday.

The FIR against Ajit Jogi, a sitting MLA, was registered at the Gaurela police station in Bilaspur district on Thursday night for allegedly obtaining a fake caste certificate claiming himself to be a tribal, police had said.

"Ajit Jogi was in Delhi from the last few days for his routine medical check-up. On Thursday at around midnight, he complained of problem in breathing following which he was admitted at Medanta Hospital (in Gurugram)," Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) leader and former MLA Paresh Bagbahra told PTI.

The JCC (J) is the political party founded by Ajit Jogi, the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh.

His wife Renu Jogi is with him in the hospital, he said, adding the hospital management was yet to release a medical bulletin about his health.

Jogi (73), a bureaucrat-turned-politician, is in the mid of trouble over his caste status issue.

The FIR against Ajit Jogi was registered following a complaint by Sameera Paikra, the BJP candidate from Marwahi in the 2013 assembly polls, Bilaspur Superintendent of Police Prashant Agrawal had said.

Ajit Jogi was booked under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record).

According to Paikra, Ajit Jogi had obtained the "fake" caste certificate in 1967, he had added.

Last week, a separate FIR was registered against Ajit Jogi with the Civil Lines police station in Bilaspur after a government-appointed committee rejected his claim of being a tribal.

Last month, a high-level caste scrutiny committee set up by the state government dismissed Ajit Jogi's claim of belonging to a Scheduled Tribe (ST)and cancelled all his caste certificates.

Notably, Ajit Jogi's son Amit Jogi, a former MLA, was arrested on September 3 on the basis of a separate complaint filed by Paikra at the Gaurela Police station.

Amit Jogi is accused of cheating and forgery in connection with declaration in a poll affidavit submitted by him during the 2013 assembly elections.

In 2013, Amit Jogi had won from the Marwahi assembly seat defeating Paikra of the BJP. Ajit Jogi is the sitting MLA from Marwahi from where he won in 2018.