Rajkot: The talati and administrator of the Bhesan village panchayat in Junagadh district have been booked for allegedly making a sweeper enter an underground sewer, in violation of laws banning manual scavenging and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.The FIR, registered at Bhesan police station, accuses the village talati J B Solanki and an administrator identified as Chavda. The complaint was filed by Dinesh Chohan, who was employed as a temporary sweeper with the panchayat for seven years.Chohan stated that on July 3, his brother Lalit and nephew Rutik and he were called by the two officials and directed to clean all clogged sewers in the village because of complaints of overflowing sewage. The officials allegedly told them that their salaries would be withheld if the task was not completed, and indicated that entering the sewers might be required.The three men began cleaning the sewers using equipment provided by the panchayat. During the process, they encountered a blockage in one sewer which could not be addressed unless someone physically entered the sewer. Dinesh Chohan entered the sewer, fearing that not doing so would lead to loss of pay or his job.This was filmed by Rutik and later shared with community leaders in Gandhinagar. The community leaders urged Chohan to lodge a police complaint.Based on the complaint and video evidence, police registered a case under Sections 125 and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the relevant provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act and the Employment of Manual Scavengers and its Prohibition Act.