Varanasi: An FIR was registered at Shivpur police station against seven people, including a junior engineer of the Varanasi Development Authority, following allegations of extortion, assault, house trespass, vandalism and caste-based abuse.The case was filed on Saturday on the order of the Special Judge (SC/ST) court. Those named in the FIR include VDA junior engineer Jaiprakash Gupta, employees Sushil Upadhyay, Aniruddh Pandey and Suraj Yadav, along with three unidentified persons.According to the complaint filed by Sujit Kumar Sonkar, resident of Bhagatpur area of Shivpur, construction work was underway on a plot registered in the name of his mother, Lalmani Devi. He alleged that after the VDA pasted a notice on the property on Dec 8, 2025, he visited the VDA office to get the building map approved.Sonkar claimed that junior engineer Jaiprakash Gupta directed him to meet VDA employee Sushil Upadhyay, who allegedly demanded Rs 3 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh for getting the map approved. He alleged that ₹30,000 was taken from him as an advance.The complainant further stated that he was later informed that he would have to deposit Rs 8,13,433 as the official fee. He deposited Rs 50,000 on Feb 12 and sought time to arrange for the remaining amount. However, he alleged that when he objected to demands for additional money, he was pressured to pay another Rs 5 lakh and was threatened that his house would be sealed if he failed to do so.Sonkar alleged that on the evening of Mar 17, the accused forcibly entered his house and demanded Rs 5 lakh. When he refused, they allegedly assaulted him, abused him using caste-based slurs, snatched Rs 8,000 from his pocket and damaged household items.Sonkar also alleged that the accused threatened to implicate him in a false case and send him to jail if he did not pay the money. After police allegedly failed to act on his complaint, Sonkar approached the Special Judge (SC/ST) court, which directed the registration of the case.Shivpur SHO Ajit Kumar Verma said the matter is under investigation.
