Balodabazar, Jun 15 (PTI) Six persons were booked in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar-Bhatapara district for allegedly assaulting a man after accusing him of being an informer of mining officials, police said on Sunday.
A video, in which victim Parmeshwar Sahu can be seen with his hands tied while being thrashed with a belt and a stick, went viral on social media, following which Gaya Patel, Dilharan Verma, Kewal Kewat, Yashwant Patel, Anand Das and Digvijay Vashnav were booked under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions, an official said.
"The accused are engaged in mining work while Sahu is a driver by profession. The incident took place on June 12 when Sahu had gone to Khapridih village under Gidhauri police station limits to purchase gravel from a local trader," the official said.
"Accused Yashwant Patel and Kewal Kewat stopped Sahu at Gudhi Chowk in the village and assaulted him along with four others after accusing him of feeding information to mining officials that led the seizure of their gravel-laden tractors recently," the official said.
All efforts are on to arrest the six persons, the official added.
Slamming the BJP government in the state over the incident, former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said sand and coal mafias had become "fearless"."
"Mafias are brutally assaulting the common people in collusion with the police and district administration," he alleged.