Shahjahanpur (UP), Oct 9 (PTI) Authorities here will soon initiate proceedings to recover the losses suffered after an under-construction road stretch was dug up by some people over non-payment of "commission" by the contractor, officials said on Monday.

The road, being laid by the Public Works Department (PWD), connects Shahjahanpur to Budaun. A half-kilometre stretch of it was dug up with the help of a bulldozer on October 2. The main accused was identified as Jagveer Singh, who introduced himself as the representative of Veer Vikram Singh, the BJP MLA from Katra.

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The MLA, however, said Jagveer Singh was not his representative but accepted that he is a BJP worker. "I have nothing to do with him," he said.

District Magistrate (DM) Umesh Pratap Singh told PTI that following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's instructions in the matter, the extent of the damage was evaluated by the PWD, which pegged it at Rs 10.09 lakh.

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"The PWD's report has been sent to the Claims Authority, Lucknow, and once we get its approval, we will start action to recover the losses from the accused," the DM said.

He added that the accused should deposit the compensation for the loss themselves or face legal action.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had taken note of the incident and ordered for full recovery of the damage from those who had dug the road, a senior official had earlier said.

An FIR was registered on a complaint from Ramesh Singh, the manager of the construction company, against 15-20 unidentified people. The complainant had alleged that one of the accused was the representative of MLA Veer Vikram Singh.

The FIR was lodged under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act on October 3.

The complainant had alleged that Jagveer Singh, who introduced himself as the representative of the MLA, intimidated the employees of the construction company on several occasions and demanded a "5 per cent commission" (money to carry out the construction work) from the firm.

"When this commission was not given, they dug up half a kilometre of the road built by us with a bulldozer on October 2," he alleged in his complaint.

Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena said Jaitipur police registered the case on behalf of the contractor's manager. "As soon as the matter came to our notice, we formed three teams and the accused. Accused Panchu, Pawan (bulldozer driver), Surjeet, Rambaran and Vinod, the brother of the main accused Jagveer, have been arrested."

Apart from this, Jagveer Singh's brother Vinod was arrested and the bulldozer seized. IPC Section 386 was also incorporated against the accused for demanding extortion.

Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Vajpayee said after the arrest of five accused in the case, half a dozen more people have been identified and they will also be arrested soon.

(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)