Andhra IAS officer booked for allegedly assaulting cops in Bengaluru pub

An Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS officer, Vikas Marmat, has been booked for allegedly assaulting and abusing police personnel at a pub in Bengaluru, and obstructing them from discharging their duty. The incident happened at the Cavore pub on Residency Road in the early hours of October 10, around 1.30 am. 

Vikas Marmat is currently serving as Project Director of the Kuppam Area Development Authority (KADA), in the constituency of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. 

An FIR was registered at the Cubbon Park police station, based on a complaint from Police Inspector Arun Salunke of the Special Enquiry Wing of the Bengaluru Police’s Central Crime Branch, according to The Hindu. The complaint said that the Inspector was inspecting bars and restaurants in the area along with his team when they visited Cavore around 1.30 am on October 11. 

When the police asked customers for identification, four men including Vikas allegedly entered an argument with them. When Vikas told the police he was an IAS officer, they asked him to show an ID, which reportedly led to a quarrel, The Times of India reported. 

The complaint alleged that the men abused, threatened, and assaulted the police personnel. Visuals of the altercation showed the IAS officer using abusive language against the police personnel. Police have booked Vikas and his friends, Nitesh, Abhay and Roshan. 

The FIR has been registered against Vikas and the others, charging them with voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and assault or criminal force used to deter a public servant from discharging their duty, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).