JD(U) MLA Gopal Mandal allegedly slapped a man who was agitating and demanding compensation after death of his family member in a road accident in in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district on Saturday.

The victim, a banana vendor, died in a road accident in Bhagalpur on Saturday after which his relatives and local street vendors sat on protest at the spot demanding compensation.

Mandal, who is the MLA of Bhagalpur’s Gopalpur assembly constituency, reached there to remove the road blockade and console the victim’s family. When he reached the spot, the family members of the victim were demanding the District Magistrate (DM) to come to the spot and announce an adequate compensation.

Mandal said being a local MLA and part of the government “his authority is greater than that of the DM but the protesters were not listening to him”.

When asked about the incident, Mandal said: “I slapped my own man and not the relative of the deceased. I am going to contest the Lok Sabha election and I am not mad at the public. The man, I slapped, was not allowing me to console the victim’s family. He was dragging my shirt. So, I slapped him. He is my own man and not a protester.”

“I came here to console the victim’s family. They were demanding the District Magistrate to come… I told them that I would immediately give a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and will ask the Road Transport Department to compensate them to the tune of Rs 15 to 20 lakh. The victim has 6 daughters,” the JD(U) MLA added.

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)