Will lodge FIR against Rajgarh collector for slapping people during pro-CAA rally: Shivraj Chouhan

Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday called a clash that broke out between Rajgarh Police and BJP workers during a Tiranga rally in support of the CAA "a black day for democracy" and asserted that an FIR will be lodged against the Rajgarh District collector and her deputy for purportedly slapping people, who were chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and holding tricolor in their hands.

"It is a black day for democracy, the collector slapped people who were chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and holding tricolor in their hands, this is too much," Chouhan told .

Stating that this attitude of the collector will "not be tolerated" at any cost, he asked, "Did Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath ordered collector to do this?"

Chouhan further said that the BJP will launch a massive people's movement against this act.

"This will prove to be the final nail in the coffin of Congress government, we will launch a massive people's movement against this. We will register FIR against the Collector, if FIR is not registered we will go to court," he said.

A clash broke out between police and BJP workers, who were carrying out a 'Tiranga rally' in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), in Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday.

During the protest, the collector had a heated argument with the BJP workers. In the meantime, the dispute grew and the police, as well as the collector, were seen struggling to control the BJP workers. As the situation worsened, the police resorted to lathi-charge in which two workers were injured.

In the video that went viral on the internet, collector Nidhi Nivedita was purportedly seen slapping a man who was a part of the crowd.According to police, permission was not granted for the rally due to the imposition of Section 144 in the region. However, the BJP workers and local leaders carried out the rally without permission.

Narrating the incident, Rajgarh District Collector Nidhi Nivedita told , "Protestors tore the clothes and pulled the hair of officers deployed in the region. I was surprised at how little the law meant to them. They were kicking the sub-district magistrate (SDM) and assaulting the officials."The district collector, who had also visited the spot in a bid to control the situation, said that the entire incident was video graphed and action will be taken against the perpetrators after identification.

"We had asked the local businesses to close shop for the day. Those who are not a part of these protests also appear in the protest videos and are later named in the cases," Nivedita said.

One of the protestors with a head injury, who was seen bleeding, said that police assaulted him, following which many demonstrators raised slogans against the police administration.

( With inputs from ANI )