Vitthal Radadiya, Congress MP from Porbandar, was booked for rioting and criminal intimidation and under the Arms Act on Friday after the CCTV footage showing him threatening the employees of a toll booth in Vadodara district with a gun.
Radadiya on Thursday night showed off his licensed gun and threatened the employees at the toll booth after they asked his driver for original ID card of the MP.
The MP, who was not aware that his gun-toting act was being captured on a CCTV camera at the toll booth, defended his act saying that "the people present there called me a fake MP and were also threatening to assault me. I did not aim or fire at anybody. I was alone and cornered, so I just showed them the gun."
According to the complaint files by the manager of the toll plaza, Radadiya arrived at the toll booth at Karjan near Vadodara on National Highway 8 at around 1.25 am on Thursday. His driver told the attendant that MP himself was travelling so they are exempted from paying the Rs 80 toll tax. When the attendant asked for the ID card, the driver showed him the photocopy of the identity card following which the attendant demanded the original identity card.
It was only after the driver and the attendant started arguing, Radadiya stepped out of the car and threatened to shoot the people whom he claimed were wasting his time, according to IBN Live.
"I showed my ID card but the security person said it was forged. They called me a fake MP and tried to misbehave. I thought they would fight with me. So, for self defence, I took out my rifle. I have a licenced gun which I don't keep to show off," he told the news channel.
Meanwhile, police have filed an FIR against the MP for brandishing the rifle at the employees of the toll plaza. Six others travelling with the MP have also been names in the complaint.
"The police are investigating if the weapon was a licensed one and if it belonged to Radadiya or any one of the six others accompanying him in an Innova," The Indian Express quoted Vadodara DSP Usha Rada as saying.
Radadiya defended his action saying that he brandished his gun in self defence as he was surrounded by about 15 people carrying sticks. The CCTV footage tells a different story though as nobody with stick was seen.
However, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said that "images being shown on televisions are disturbing and there is no running away from it. We have asked the Gujarat PCC to send us a detailed report on the case."
