Congress workers here today took out a march demanding resignation of Minister of State Sanjay Pathak in the backdrop of his name figuring in connection with an alleged money laundering case, a charge which the latter has denied as "baseless".
MP party unit president Arun Yadav, NSUI chief Amrita Dhawan and some party workers were injured when police baton-charged them during the protest, which was organised by NSUI, the students wing of Congress.
NSUI workers were protesting outside the party office, while senior leaders were seated inside and discussing the plan to march to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's official residence with a demand that the minister be dropped from his cabinet. The situation turned volatile when a few stones were pelted at police which led to the baton-charge.
Yadav suffered serious injuries in the cane charge and was rushed to a private hospital for treatment.
"The police for the first time in the history of state barged into state Congress office and beat up party workers including Yadav and NSUI president Dhawan," MP Congress chief spokesman K K Mishra alleged.
Former minister and senior Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma alleged that it was for the first time in his political career that police barged into any political party's office and brutally beat up Congress leaders.
Initially, state Congress chief and others were taken to the government J P Hospital but later Yadav and three others were shifted to a private hospital.
The police, however, said they used mild force to disperse agitating Congressmen who pelted stones at them.
"We did not cane-charge but used water cannons to disperse them," Additional SP Rajesh Chandel said.
Congress has alleged that name of minister of state for MSME and higher education Pathak's name cropped up after an initial inquiry into the alleged Rs 500-crore money laundering through a private bank in Katni.
After these revealations, Katni Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaurav Tiwari was transferred to Chhindwara, following which a series of protests were held in the district demanding Pathak's resignation.
Meanwhile, Pathak had said, "I have no connection in any cases in Katni. In all cases, thorough investigations are on and the guilty will be punished severely. I demand speedy investigation into the (hawala) case. I will fully cooperate with the investigation.
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