MP: Three held for attack on judge's house; 'revenge' for bail plea rejection, say cops

Three men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly threatening to kill a magistrate, damaging property and pelting stones at his residence in Madhya Pradesh's Anuppur district, with police saying it was a 'revenge attack' after he rejected the bail plea of one of the accused earlier.

As per the complaint filed by Judicial Magistrate First Class and Civil Judge Amandeep Singh Chhabra of Kotma court, at around 12:30am on Saturday, a group of persons damaged property, including a lamp at the gate and iron fixtures, before pelting stones into the courtyard.

They fled when he came out of the house, located in Bhalumada, located 35 km from the district headquarters.

"It was an attack to take revenge. The magistrate had turned down the bail application of one of the accused five to six months ago," Superintendent of Police Mutiur Rehman told PTI.

Kotma police station SHO Sanjay Khalko identified the arrested accused as Bhalumuda residents Priyanshu Singh alias Jaguar (25), Devendra Kewat (23) and Manikesh Singh (19), adding the three were drunk at the time of the incident.

"The accused pelted stones and verbally abused the judge outside his government accommodation late at night, creating panic in the area. We raided different locations and took all three accused into custody. Main accused Priyanshu Singh is a habitual offender with several cases registered against him," Khalko told PTI.

The judge had turned down Priyanshu Singh's bail application.

Sources said Anuppur principal district and sessions judge Maya Vishwalal called on the JMFC at his residence on the direction of the MP High Court registrar general.

The three accused have been charged under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 224 (threat of injury to public servant), 296 (obscene acts and songs), 324 (mischief), 331(6) (which concerns house trespass or house-breaking), 333 (house-trespass with preparation for hurt) and 351(3) (threats of death, grievous hurt, or destruction of property by fire).