Meerut. Police have registered an FIR against Meerut iron trader Akshat Jain, who staged a dramatic protest by removing his clothes over alleged harassment by the state GST department. Officials gave this information on Monday. On the other hand, regarding the FIR lodged against the businessman, the Iron Dealers Association has warned that if the FIR is not returned by Tuesday, they will hold a meeting and decide their next strategy.
On October 4, Jain took off his clothes and sat on strike at the Goods and Services Tax (GST) office in Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad district. Jain claims that he took this step due to frustration with the continuous harassment from the department. Ghaziabad Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACCP) Rajneesh Upadhyay said that Sahibabad Police has registered a case against accused businessman Akshat Jain under section 132 of the Indian Justice Code (BNS) (assaulting a public servant, using force and preventing him from performing his duty). An FIR has been registered under section 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and investigation has been started.
According to the police, Assistant Commissioner of the department, Antriksh Srivastava filed a complaint against Jain at Sahibabad police station, accusing him of misbehaving with a government officer on duty, creating obstruction in government work and tarnishing the image of the government by making a video viral on social media. On the basis of which this FIR has been registered. Meanwhile, the Ghaziabad Iron Vendors Board has today given a memorandum to Dinesh Kumar Mishra, Additional Commissioner Grade-1 of the GST Department, demanding withdrawal of the complaint lodged with the police.
President of Iron Dealers Board, Dr. Atul Kumar Jain said that in the memorandum, Mohan Nagar Check Post Assistant Commissioner Antriksh Srivastava has been blamed for the incident of October 4, saying that this accident happened due to his misbehavior and instigation, after which The businessman reacted.
Atul Jain told ‘PTI-Bhasha’ that the Additional Commissioner has assured to take action in this matter by 5 pm on Tuesday. If the demands are not met by 5 pm tomorrow, then we will meet all the traders of Ghaziabad and decide the strategy of the movement.
Jain said, “We all are staunch supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party and have full faith in the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, our illustrious Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Government, because Yogi ji respects all the businessmen very much and gives them benefits through new schemes.” Let’s try.” He said, “It appears that some officials, in collusion with the opposition parties, take harassing actions against businessmen for such small mistakes with the aim of defaming the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party.” Atul Jain said, “We do not want any opposition political party to try to politicize this incident. Therefore, we want that the First Information Report should be withdrawn in a peaceful manner and appropriate action should be taken against Antriksh Srivastava who is responsible for the incident.” On the other hand, Assistant Commissioner of State Tax Department, Antriksh Srivastava has accused the businessman of spoiling the office system.
The video of the incident quickly went public on social media, following which the state’s main opposition party widely condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s treatment of the traders. After the video of the businessman taking off his clothes in the office became public on social media, Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav, while sharing the video on ‘X’, had said in a post, ‘This is ‘ease’ in BJP rule. Off. The truth of ‘doing business’: BJP has even made businessmen take off their clothes. Traders say today, they don’t want BJP! In the context of this incident, State Tax Department’s Additional Commissioner Grade-1 Dinesh Kumar Mishra had said that the businessman concerned had created a ruckus to put pressure on the mobile team officer and other officials.
Mishra said that during investigation, the weight of the goods loaded in the vehicle was found to be more than 170 kg. A notice was issued to the businessman imposing penalty at the rate of 118 percent. The businessman has also deposited Rs 10,532 citing the fault of the driver, after which the vehicle was freed at around 10 pm on Friday night.
According to departmental officials, the goods were being taken from Arihant Iron and Steel Industry located in Meerut-Delhi Road industrial area to Mukundnagar in Ghaziabad. 10.250 metric tonnes of bright bars were mentioned in the delivery challan, but no counter slip was attached with the challan. In such a situation, the vehicle loaded with goods was brought to the mobile team office located in Mohan Nagar. Officials said that the businessman was informed about the discrepancies found during the investigation, but the businessman started creating ruckus by denying his shortcomings.