Seven booked for beating up tribal man in MP's Seoni district; one held

The victim has alleged that Suryavanshi, one of the owners of the shop, and his associates had suspected him of stealing money from the shop and beaten him up with plastic and iron pipes, a belt and sticks after confining him in a room.

Seoni: A tribal man was allegedly brutally thrashed by seven persons on suspicion of theft at a shop he was working in, and his family was also forced to transfer land in another man’s name in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district, police said on Tuesday.

The police on Monday arrested the main accused, Vijay Suryavanshi, a shop owner, in connection with the incident that took place in Barghat town on December 29, 2023, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar Singh told PTI.

The police recently registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, against seven persons involved in the attack, he said.

The victim has alleged that Suryavanshi, who was one of the owners of the shop, and his associates had suspected him of stealing money from the shop and beaten him up with plastic and iron pipes, a belt and sticks after confining him in a room, the official said.

The man also alleged that the accused tortured him with a plier, he said.

A video of the brutal attack surfaced on social media recently.

Suryavanshi also allegedly forced the victim's mother-in-law to transfer 14 acres of land in the name of another employee through a notary, the official said.

The police have launched a manhunt to apprehend the other six accused involved in the incident, he said.