Lucknow, May 16 (IANS): A former Samajwadi Party MLA Ashutosh Upadhyaya a.k.a Bablu Upadhyaya, his gunner and driver have been booked for thrashing a Dalit employee of a private company in the Gomti Nagar area in Lucknow, said police on Thursday.

As per FIR, the victim, Lalji a.k.a. Lalu of Ambedkar Nagar, works at New India Motors in the area. On Tuesday afternoon, Upadhyay sent his gunner and driver to the company asking them to call him out of the office. Lalu alleged that Upadhyay started abusing him immediately after he saw him and hit him with a stick which he had with him without any provocation.

“I was abused and was showered with casteist remarks. Upadhyay attacked me with a stick and I ran away from the scene to save myself. His driver and gunner chased me, caught me and brought me before him. I suffered head injuries in the attack,” he alleged.

Deepak Pandey, SHO of the Gomti Nagar area, said on Thursday that a case under relevant sections of the IPC and SC/ST Act has been lodged. The case is being investigated and the allegations levelled are being probed, said the police officer.

“Action against the former MLA will be initiated soon,” he said.