“Main Vikrant Chavan Hu”: Congress corporator creates ruckus, hits female journo recording his antics
When Tabassum confronted Chavan for creating a ruckus at the station, he boasted about his credentials and tried to physically stop her from recording his video (screengrabs from video via @tabassum_b)
In a shocking incident, Congress corporator Vikrant Chavan from Thane hit a female journalist when she tried to record a video of him creating ruckus at a metro station on Wednesday.
Tabassum Barnagarwala, who works with Indian Express, narrated the incident in a series of tweets yesterday.
“I am a corporator, do you know that? was the first thing I heard as I entered the metro station today. Congress corporator Vikrant Chavan was shouting at two Metro staffers and two security personnel who tried their best to calm him down,” she wrote.
THREAD:”I am a corporator, do you know that?”was the first thing I heard as I entered the metro station today.Congress corporator Vikrant Chavan was shouting at two Metro staffers & two security personnel who tried their best to calm him down.Being a journalist, I was curious (1)
— Tabassum (@tabassum_b) January 15, 2020
She then went on to highlight how Chavan boasted about his credentials and tried to physically stop her from recording his video.
“Being a journalist, I was curious and I asked a staffer named Sajid what had happened. ‘He is a corporator, that is the only reason he is shouting. He won’t even listen,’ he said. I listened as a security guard requested that it was a silent zone, Chavan flared up and shouted louder.
I decided to intervene, and asked Chavan politely to calm down. His voice grew louder, he said ‘Tu ja yahan se. Mein Vikrant Chavan hun. Corporator’. At that point, we decided to make a video. Chavan got violent, hit my hand to stop the video,” Tabassum added.
The Congress leader left the station as more security personnel arrived on the scene, the journalist posted on her timeline.
The scribe even shared a 10-second video clip of Chavan, during which he can be seen hitting the journalist’s hand in an attempt to stop her from recording the video. The clip, now gone viral, has garnered strong criticism from netizens.
Tabassum, meanwhile, has clarified that she was not injured and has no plans of filing a complaint against the corporator.
“I have been getting a lot of calls from everyone over the incident involving corporator Vikrant Chavan. Thank you, but this thread was posted to only highlight abuse of power. I am not a victim here. I am not injured. He hit to stop the video. No police complaint or news needed,” she wrote.
The incident comes a day after Kaptan Malik, corporator from Kurla and brother of NCP leader Nawab Malik, was caught on tape assaulting some labourers at a roadside work-site after they failed to show him the requisite work order.
Chavan, incidentally, is no stranger to controversy or law & order problems.
Back in 2015, Chavan and three other corporators were charged for abetting builder Suraj Parmar’s suicide after the latter blamed them for ‘mental harassment’ in his suicide note. He even spent some time in jail in connection with the case.
Last year, when Congress gave him a ticket to contest the assembly polls from the Oval-Majiwada seat in Thane, Chavan said his name had got dragged into the Parmar suicide case due to “political vendetta”.
Update:
When questioned about the incident, Chavan told Mumbai Mirror that the journalist had no right to talk to him without his permission.
“Metro station is not a silence zone and I was asking for my right. I am a corporator, but I did not travel without a ticket. Show me the proof that I was shouting,” he told the daily.
“Who is that girl? Is that a way to behave with a common man. Has there been any complaint lodged against anybody? She came at the end of the movie and is trying to create a full- length film. I only told her that she had no right to talk to me without my permission,” Chavan added.
