Bareilly: A local BJP MLA beating up their branch manager has terrorised staffers of the Bank of Baroda’s grameen branch at Dalelnagar in Nawabgunj so much that the entire branch comprising of six employees has applied for a transfer. The manager was allegedly beaten up by BJP MLA from Nawabganj, Kesar Singh Gangwar, on Wednesday and an FIR was registered against the legislator on Thursday.The bank’s regional manager, GC Pandey, confirmed that the staff members were “terrorised” and that three staffers had already submitted their request in writing. Operations at the bank have been suspended since Wednesday, the day Harish Kumar Hyanki was assaulted. “Most staffers, including branch manager Hyanki, have sought transfer. I have already received three written applications,” Pandey said.Meanwhile, Hyanki has left for his native place in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. “The entire idea of safety goes for a toss when the branch manager is roughed up in front of the staff. There is no point in us continuing here as our families are terrified and are constantly worried about our safety,” a bank employee who did not wish to be named told TOI.Gangwar was booked on Thursday amid reports of his supporters trying to disrupt the investigation. A senior police officer said that the MLA’s supporters posed as customers and complained against the branch manager, accusing him of misconduct.Furious with the legislator’s behaviour, bankers in the region have threatened to go on strike if action is not taken against the MLA. “It is hard for any official to work in an environment where lawmakers show no respect for the law. That is why the staff are seeking a transfer en masse. It will also affect the bank’s operations in future,” Pandey said.The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon, when Nawabganj legislator Gangwar, who was expelled from BSP before joining the saffron party ahead of the UP polls, reached Bank of Baroda’s Dalelnagar branch with his supporters.According to a written complaint filed by Hyanki, the MLA stormed into the bank with his aides and directed him to release certain funds deposited into a farmer’s savings account.“The MLA’s query pertained to a loan defaulter, whose account was frozen after he failed to pay multiple installments of his Rs 50,000 loan. There was no way we could have released funds from his savings account. I tried explaining this to the MLA, but he insisted on releasing the money,” Hyanki wrote in his complaint.

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