BJP politicians climb up water tank in protest against spate of burglaries in Rajasthan town

BJP MLA from Keshoraipatan area of Bundi district Chandra Kanta Meghwal climbed on top of a water tank on Sunday in protest against police over a spate of burglaries in the last few weeks in Kapren town.

He was accompanied in the protest by the party's district head Chittarmal and local councillors, who too came on top of the tank with him around 1.30 pm, senior police officers on the spot said.

Assistant District Magistrate Mukesh Choudhary and Assistant Superintendent of Police Kishori Lal rushed to the spot and tried to placate the politicians.

More than 15 incidents of burglary have been reported in Kapren amounting to theft of a total of about Rs 25-30 lakh in the last 15 days, but police failed to unravel even a single one of these thefts, MLA ChandraKanta told PTI on phone from the top of the water tank.

She along with local traders had submitted a memorandum to the district authorities warning them of a protest seven days ago, but no action or no assurance was given, she said.

Through their letter, they had also warned the administration that they would mount their protest from top of the water tank on Sunday.

When these pleadings were not heeded, we climbed up the water tank around 1.30 am, she said.

Despite the warning, the police did not take preventive measures to block the way to the water tank, and allowed us to climb up, she said. “Police are leaving no stone unturned to unravel recent incidents of burglaries with several teams in field to track the culprits, but they are not convinced,” Kishori Lal told media.

He said that efforts are on since afternoon to persuade the MLAs and the rest to come down.