Nghe An: Police chief accused of being beaten by deputy commune secretary while on duty

On September 27, the working group of the Inspection Committee of Tan Ky District Party Committee was present at the headquarters of Nghia Binh Commune (Tan Ky) to announce the Decision to inspect when there were signs of violations against Mr. Le Ngoc Anh - Deputy Secretary and Head of the Inspection Committee of Nghia Binh Commune. The delegation was led by Mr. Bui Duc Hong - Deputy Head of the Inspection Committee of Tan Ky District Party Committee.

Mr. Tran Van Thanh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Binh commune said that the incident started from a competition over rice harvesting.

The commune police chief said he was punched in the chest by the deputy secretary. Photo: TH

Accordingly, recently, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (32 years old, in hamlet 7, Nghia Binh) rented a harvester from Yen Thanh district to Nghia Binh commune to harvest for the people at the price of 180,000 VND/sao. After that, some people from Ha Tinh also brought 2 more harvesters to Nghia Binh to practice. However, this group of people from Ha Tinh only took the people at the price of 160,000 VND/sao.

At noon on September 20, thinking that this group of people came to devalue the price, Tuan started a fight and then attacked the three Ha Tinh men, causing them to be hospitalized. Tan Ky District Police then took Tuan and the harvester he rented to Nghia Binh Commune headquarters to clarify the case of intentional injury.

Nguyen Van Tuan is his wife's nephew, calling Mr. Le Ngoc Anh - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Binh commune - uncle.

Nghia Binh commune headquarters, where the incident occurred. Photo: TH

After taking initial statements, on the evening of September 20, Tan Ky District Police directed Nghia Binh Commune Police to draw up a record and assign responsibility to Tuan to temporarily keep the harvester while awaiting investigation.

“After hearing the story, I called Tuan and he said, 'Uncle, come to the commune headquarters with me.' I saw that he was a gentle boy so I went to see what was going on. At first, I went into the hall and just sat quietly watching the work,” said the Deputy Secretary of Nghia Binh commune.

“However, after listening to the commune police chief read the minutes, I told my nephew not to sign. At that time, the commune police chief did not explain clearly, so I thought the minutes were wrong,” said Mr. Le Ngoc Anh. The Deputy Party Secretary and the commune police chief began to argue loudly. Mr. Anh then went to snatch the minutes in front of the Nghia Binh commune police group and called his nephew back.

The incident started with a competition over harvesters.

“I explained many times that we were performing official duties assigned by superiors and asked the Deputy Secretary of the commune to go out, but he still refused and shouted loudly. I saw him holding the minutes and going out the door to tear them, so I ran after him and grabbed them back, but was immediately punched in the chest by the Deputy Secretary,” said Mr. Hoang Dinh Tam, Chief of Nghia Binh Commune Police. The incident only stopped when police officers rushed in to stop him.

However, speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Mr. Le Ngoc Anh said that he only pushed the commune police chief. “I only remember that I turned back and pushed him. I don’t think I punched him,” said the commune’s Deputy Secretary, denying that he intended to tear up the minutes.

Meanwhile, of the four police officers present at the commune headquarters at that time, two confirmed that they saw the deputy commune secretary punch the police chief. Of the other two, one was outside the gate guarding and one was sitting in the room so it was unclear.

“I am very remorseful,” said the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nghia Binh Commune. “From that day until now, I have cried every night. I know I was wrong. I have never been so hot-tempered before. I cannot explain why I did that. That day, I asked for leave from work because of personal matters. Before the incident, I had been drinking.”

The Party Secretary of Nghia Binh commune said that the district authorities have already intervened in the matter of whether the Deputy Secretary punched the Commune Police Chief or not, so we have to wait for the conclusion. "However, according to the explanations of all parties, I think the incident was caused by Mr. Anh wanting to intervene for his nephew but not intervening properly, which then led to this incident," said Mr. Thanh.