A man holds on to the leg of a policeman as another folds his hands in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani
A video showing a man being dragged by policemen in full public view in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district has triggered a controversy. In the 50-second-long video, the man identified as Prem Singh is seen at the feet of the policeman, who then pulls him by his hair.
The same video also shows another policeman push a turbaned man, who comes to save Mr Singh.
Mr Singh is heard shouting in Hindi, "They are beating us, they are killing us, the police are pulling us by our hair… They are not allowing us to set up our stall." He appeals to the crowd to save them.
State Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja tweeted the video and criticised the police. "The concerned man Prem Singh Granthi has long been running a lock-keys shop near the Pulsood police outpost. He was beaten, his turban desecrated and then he was pulled through hair on the road in full public view by cops. This amounts to desecrating religious sentiments of the Sikh community," Mr Saluja tweeted.
Mr Singh alleged the policemen assaulted him after he refused to pay them bribe.
Home Minister Dr Narrottam Mishra said two policemen have been suspended.
Barwani district Superintendent of Police Nimish Agrawal, while maintaining that a probe by sub-divisional officer police has been ordered into the incident, said Mr Singh is an accused in three cases of theft in Jabalpur district.
"Our policemen were on vehicle-checking duty when they stopped two men, including Prem Singh, riding a motorcycle. While the riders didn't have driving licence, one of them was drunk. When the policemen tried to bring them to the outpost, one of them created a ruckus there," said Mr Agrawal.