SURENDRA PAL SINGH / Uttarkashi
The ongoing bickering within the Chinyalisaur Municipal Council reached a flashpoint on Wednesday when the chairman of the council Manoj Kohli climbed onto the arch bridge around 7 AM to protest against a corruption probe initiated against him. This incident caused a stir in the area and the administration and police teams arrived at the scene to handle the situation with a crowd having gathered around the bridge. Kohli however was persuaded by the administration to descend safely from the bridge in the afternoon.
Notably, for the past four days, municipal councillors had been staging a sit-in over various demands. On Tuesday, the sit- in had ended after the minister-in-charge of the district, Saurabh Bahuguna intervened, leading to the belief that the dispute had been settled. But the next day, Kohli’s action reignited the situation. Observers say that the attachment of the executive officer (EO) has angered him, prodding him to the action. Kohli rejected the allegations of his distractors, asserting that he was a victim of political conspiracy hatched by his opponents. He said that he had taken no commissions from contractors.
Later in the day sub divisional magistrate Dunda Devanand Sharma arrived at the spot. After long persuasion, Kohli was safely taken down the bridge.
