Kota, Jun 25 (PTI) Former BJP legislator Prahlad Gungal, his family members and 40-50 others were on Thursday booked for allegedly obstructing an anti-encroachment drive and assaulting government officials here, officials said.

An anti-encroachment drive was being carried out by the Urban Improvement Trust, Kota, to remove illegal occupation of over 1,000 bigas of land by Prahlad Ganjal and his family members meant for Devnarayan Pashupalan Yojana in the Dharmpura area under the Anantpura police station of the city, they said

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Prahlad Gunjal, his brother Srilal Gunjal and 40-50 other family members and supporters reached the spot where the drive was underway on Wednesday at around 8.30 am and started obstructing it, the officials said.

They also threatened the squad personnel and officials and warned them of dire consequences, the officials added.

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The former MLA, his brothers and nearly 40-50 others were on Thursday booked under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharging duty) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty) of the IPC and further investigation into the matter is underway, Circle in-charge (CI), Anantpura police station, Devesh Bhardwaj said.

The firebrand BJP leader, Phahlad Gunjal, was defeated in the previous state assembly elections by Urban Development and Housing Department minister Shanti Dhariwal from Kota North.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)