Haryana minister booked for 'exercising undue influence' during LS polls

Haryana Minister of State for Cooperation Manish Grover has been booked by the Rohtak Police for alleged criminal intimidation and exercising undue influence during the recently-held Lok Sabha polls, officials said.

An FIR was registered against Grover and another person, Ramesh Lohar, a history-sheeter, on Tuesday at Shivaji Nagar police station here, they said.

They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to criminal conspiracy, undue influence during elections, public servant disobeying the directions under law, criminal intimidation and disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and under relevant provisions of the Arms Act, they added.

The police action comes after a court here issued a notice to Dilbag Singh, the SHO of Shivaji Nagar police station, on a contempt plea in the case.

The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Lokender Singh Phogat, president of the District Bar Association, who alleged that Grover, along with Lohar and a group of 50-60 musclemen, had entered a polling booth in Rohtak on the polling day, May 12, created ruckus and intimidated voters with an intention to capture the booth.

Phogat had alleged that he too had been threatened by Grover and Lohar for informing the police.

Grover, the BJP MLA from Rohtak, had earlier rubbished these charges.

In his complaint submitted before a court here on May 18, Phogat had sought registration of a case in the matter. The court on June 3 ordered registration of FIR against the two accused.

Later, the police filed a revision petition in the court of additional district and sessions judge, which was dismissed last week.

Three-time Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda was the party nominee from Rohtak. He was defeated by BJP's Arvind Sharma by a narrow margin of over 7,000 votes.

A day after the polling, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had written to the chief election commissioner (CEC), seeking appropriate action against Grover for allegedly intimidating voters in Rohtak.

In his letter to the CEC on May 13, Azad, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Haryana, had accused the Haryana minister of "illegally sabotaging" the polling.