New Delhi: A person allegedly associated with a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA in Uttar Pradesh allegedly dug up a road in Shahjahanpur because he was not paid ‘goonda tax’, according to media reports.The local district administration has sought a report from the Public Works Department (PWD) and action would be taken on the basis of it. The accused in this case, the associate of the BJP MLA, and four others have been arrested. Police have also seized the JCB machine used to dig the road..@Ashokips68rr SP #shahjahanpurpol के निर्देशन में थाना जैतीपुर में सड़क उखाडने की घटना में पंजीकृत अभियोग मे वांछित अभियुक्तो मे से 05 अभियुक्तो को सडक उखाडने वाली जे0सी0बी के साथ गिरफ्तार किया गया । #UPPolice @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/S3DkdlUblF— SHAHJAHANPUR POLICE (@shahjahanpurpol) October 7, 2023According to Hindustan Times, the newly constructed state highway in the district was dug up to a three-kilometer stretch.News agency Press Trust of India reported that MLA Veer Vikram Singh, who represents the Katra assembly constituency, has denied any association with the accused, Jagveer, but acknowledged that he was a BJP worker.PTI also reported that bulldozers were used for digging up the road which connects Shahjahanpur to Badaun, another district of the state.Ramesh Singh, the manager of the construction company, has lodged a first information report (FIR) against 15 to 20 unnamed people, who were allegedly hired by Jagveer to beat up the workers at the construction site, when the commission was not paid.The manager alleged that Jagveer had intimidated the employees of the construction company in the past, demanding a “5% commission”, the report added.The FIR has been registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.The company was just two weeks away from completing the project, he claimed.The Times of India quoted the MLA as saying that the manager must have dug the road himself. “The contractor used low quality material to make the road. I had raised this issue,” he said.“He must have damaged the road himself and lodged the FIR to get an insurance claim,” he added.HT also reported that UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the officials to collect the damages from the accused. It has quoted a government statement as saying that divisional commissioner Saumya Agrawal has asked the PWD to assess the damage and the monetary loss incurred due to it.