Overview

• Late on Sunday night in Banda’s Mahuva block, about 30 men armed with sticks and rods attacked SDM Amit Shukla and threatened his driver after two sand-laden trucks were impounded during an illegal mining crackdown.
• Kamta Prasad Mishra, the SDM’s driver, filed a complaint that led to an FIR naming five individuals—including Lalit Gupta and Alok Singh—and several unidentified suspects on charges from rioting to attempted murder.
• Banda Additional Superintendent of Police Shiv Raj said no arrests have been made yet and that investigators are recording statements, reviewing CCTV footage and conducting a medical examination of the driver.
• MLA Prakash Dwivedi, present at the scene, rejects claims that he slapped the magistrate and says he only scolded the officer over what he viewed as unjustified vehicle seizures.
• Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and other opposition figures point to this incident and a separate Jhansi controversy to criticize the state government’s law-and-order record.