The district administration has ordered a probe into the incident. (Representational)
Two men were allegedly tied to poles and assaulted by four persons, including two security guards of a private company, who accused them of attempting theft in a coal mine area in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Monday.
A video in which the two victims were purportedly seen tied to different poles under a tin shed and one of them was being beaten by two men with sticks went viral on social media on Monday.
The clothes of the man being assaulted in the clip were torn and he was heard screaming and begging for mercy.
The district administration has ordered a probe into the incident.
Based on a complaint by one of the victims and on the content of the video, three of the four accused involved in the incident have been arrested, they said.
According to the complaint, the victims, identified as Subhash Ram Sidar (55) and Hira Bahadur (40), natives of Korba town, were intercepted by the four accused near a railway crossing in the Kusmunda coal mines area on September 17, while returning after witnessing Vishwakarma Puja rituals in a mining facility, said Station House Officer (SHO) Liladhar Rathore, Kusmunda police station.
Of the accused, two were private security guards of a company dealing in construction work in the mining area, and the two others were their associates, he said.
"They accused Subhash and Hira of attempting to steal iron items in the mining facility and when the two denied the charge, they allegedly tied them to separate poles and brutally thrashed the duo," Mr Rathore said.
Next day, Sidar lodged a complaint at the Kusmunda police station following which police swung into action, he said.
Based on the video of the incident, the accused were identified and three of them, Rajesh Singh Rajput (53), Govardhan Kumar Sahu (29) and Ashok Kumar Kashyap (46), were arrested, the SHO said, adding efforts are on to trace the fourth accused.
The accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and further investigation is underway, he added.
Meanwhile, Korba Collector Ranu Sahu on Monday constituted a three-member committee of officials to probe the incident and asked the panel to submit its report within seven days.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)