Kailash Vijayvargiya clarifies on old photo with senior cop

Days after a black and white photograph showing him holding a shoe near the face of an IPS officer went viral, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya Monday clarified that he never meant aggression or disrespect towards the officer whom he respects from his heart.

The image, reportedly captured in 90s, was widely circulated on social media when Vijayvargiya's MLA son Akash was arrested on June 26 for assaulting a municipal officer with a cricket bat in Indore.

The photo also shows some policemen in uniform calmly standing near the IPS officer, Pramod Phalnikar, who was then posted as Additional Superintendent of Police, Indore.

Phalnikar, who is currently posted as an Inspector General (IG) with the National Security Guard (NSG) in Delhi, also concurred with Vijayvargiya's statement.

"It was wrong to say that I was angrily showing a shoe to the police officer in this old picture. In fact, this photo was clicked when I was protesting against acute water crisis. I was telling the police officer about my shoes getting torn due to frequent visits I paid to the municipal corporation to get civic problems solved," said Vijayvargiya.

The senior BJP leader said that the photo was clicked when he was the MLA of Indore-2 in 90s.

"Pramod Phalnikar is a very honest and brave police officer. I respect him from my heart. I am sitting in a temple and it will be a sin to even talk about hitting him with a shoe," Vijayvargiya said.

When asked about the photograph, Phalnikar said Vijayvargiya's statement was correct.

"The picture in question is absolutely real but it was taken from a particular angle. Baseless comments are being made without knowing the reality behind this picture. Vijayvargiya neither misbehaved with me nor with any other officer when this picture was clicked," the 1989-batch IPS officer told PTI.