MP land dispute: BJP MLA held for defying curbs amid communal tension

Bhopal, Nov 22 (IANS) Defying police restrictions, Madhya Pradesh’s BJP MLA from Mauganj, Pradeep Patel, visited Devra village and was arrested amid tension in the area over suspected encroachment of a nine-acre plot by the minority community near a temple, an official said on Friday.

Patel was arrested when he reached the village late on Thursday, despite police earlier banning him from entering the area for 15-days, said the official.

On early Friday, the legislator was shifted to a government rest house under heavy security. Following which, his supporters gathered around the rest house.

Amid a flare-up between two sides during an anti-encroachment drive on November 19, the MLA was initially detained on Wednesday for several hours, police said.

He was detained and confined to a community hall in Mauganj. He was released on Thursday with the clear instruction that he would not visit Devra village or the disputed site near the Mahadevan Temple over the next 15 days, police said.

However, Patel did not follow the instructions and returned to the disputed spot on Thursday night where he was arrested, said an official.

Tension gripped the area after Hindu organisations and Patel's supporters demanded the removal of encroachment on a nine-acre plot of land occupied by minority communities near a temple.

Recently, MP minister in charge of the area, Prahlad Singh Patel, had met the Mauganj legislator and requested him to avoid involving himself in the dispute and let the law take its course.

The legislator, however, stuck to his defiant stand and refused to back off. Sources close to the MLA said that Patel had made his stance clear after the meeting with the minister that "no power can stop him from removing encroachment as the land belongs to the temple."

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