Ambernath councillor booked for abusing council officials

A BJP councilor from the Ambernath Municipal Council in Thane district has been booked for allegedly threatening civic officials over weekly offs granted to sanitation workers even as the city roads were clogged with muck left behind by floodwater last week, police said on Wednesday. According to police, the councilor, Sunil Soni, barged into the cabin of chief sanitary officer, Devidas Pawar, on July 29 and questioned him why Saturday and Sunday weekly offs were given to the workers at a time the residents were grappling with water-logging.

A police official said the complainant apprised Soni that weekly-offs were granted as per the service rules. The complainant also told the councilor the workers were called to duty on last Saturday and Sunday in the wake of the flood caused by heavy rains.

"However, Soni abused Pawar and other civic officials present in his cabin and even lifted a chair to throw it at them," the official said quoting the complaint. Soni has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He is not arrested so far.