Two more arrested over assault of tribal man in MP’s Betul district

Betul, Feb 14 (PTI) The police in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district have arrested two more persons for their alleged involvement in the incident in which a tribal man was hung upside down and assaulted over a monetary dispute, an official said on Thursday.

    Acting on a tip-off, police raided a hideout in Bhopal and arrested the two accused, he said.

    Police have already arrested one of the accused, identified as Shohrab alias Chaint, and also initiated action against him under the NSA (National Security Act), which allows the detention of an accused for up to a year without any charge.

    Illegal construction at his house was also bulldozed by the administration on Wednesday.

    The tribal man was assaulted on November 15 last year, but the matter came to light only recently after a video of the crime went viral. His family took him to the Kotwali police station on Tuesday to file a complaint.

    The victim, a resident of Baspani area, was brought to Betul city by one of the accused under some pretext following a dispute between them over money. He was allegedly hung upside down in a room and beaten up with a belt, slippers, and sticks, police said.
    The victim told reporters on Tuesday that he was afraid of the culprits due to their criminal background and hence did not report the matter earlier.

    An FIR was subsequently registered against three identified persons and as many others, a police official said.

    In another incident, a tribal youth was allegedly beaten up by a group of persons here on February 7 over an old enmity, the police said in a release earlier.

    In the wake of the assaults of tribal persons, the state government on Wednesday night transferred Betul Superintendent of Police Siddharth Choudhary after local MLAs complained against him.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)