Man thrashed mercilessly on theft suspicion; 5 arrested after video goes viral

A man was allegedly hung upside down from a tree and brutally thrashed with sticks by five people, including a minor, at a village in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district, police said on Saturday.

After the video of the incident that took place in Uchchbhatti village under Sipat police station limits went viral on social media on Friday, and the five persons involved in the attack have been apprehended, an official said.

“While three of the attackers identified as Manish Khare, Shivraj Khare and Janu Bhargav were taken into custody late on Friday evening, Bhim Kesarwani and a 15-year-old boy, were nabbed this morning," a senior police official said.

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The victim, Mahaveer Suryawanshi, a native of Ratanpur area of the district, has been living in Uchchbhatti and working as labourer and watchman.

On the intervening night of April 25 and 26, Manish allegedly spotted Suryawanshi trying to sneak into his house. Suryawanshi managed to escape, but the next day, Manish caught him and handed him over to the police, claiming that he was trying to commit theft, the official said.

However, Manish did not lodge an FIR against Suryawanshi, following which the police released him after issuing a warning, he said.

Manish has claimed that Suryawanshi again reached his house on Wednesday night and damaged his motorcycle parked outside and escaped, he said.

“On Thursday, Manish and the other four accused allegedly tied Suryawanshi upside down from a tree near a brick kiln in the village and brutally thrashed him with sticks," the official said.

A video of the attack shows a man hanging upside down from a tree, pleading for mercy, as five men hit him with sticks.

Some locals tried to intervene and one of them recorded the act on his mobile phone and circulated it, he said.

The police immediately swung into action after getting information about the video and nabbed the five accused, the official said.

Action will be taken against the accused under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC once the police record the statement of the victim, whose whereabouts are being traced, as he left the village after the incident, he added.