Excavator operator stripped, assaulted at stone quarry in Chhattisgarh; seven booked

Balrampur (Chhattisgarh), Nov 8 (PTI) An excavator machine operator was allegedly stripped, tied up and brutally assaulted by seven persons after being accused of stealing diesel in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur district, police said on Saturday.

A video of the assault, which has surfaced on social media, shows a group of people kicking and thrashing a man stripped to his undergarments with his hands and legs tied with a scarf.

An official said a case was registered on Friday in connection with the assault that took place at a stone quarry in Bhilai Khurd village under the Bariyo police chowki limits on November 4.

The victim, Vinod Sarthi (25), a resident of Baghima village, was employed as a poclain operator at a stone crusher unit in Bhilai Khurd for the last three years.

According to the official, Sarthi, in his complaint, has alleged that on the day of the incident, Sanjay Pradhan, the accountant of another stone crusher unit, arrived at the quarry with his associates Ravishankar, JP Yadav, Monu Das, Ramlal, Deepak Agrawal and another person and started verbally abusing and thrashing him after accusing him of stealing diesel.

The victim claimed that the accused stripped him and tied his hands and legs with a scarf before punching and kicking him inside a room, he said.

Sarathi has further alleged that his associate Varun Sharma was also stripped and assaulted by the accused, he said.

The official said that four of the accused have been taken into custody and a case has been registered under relevant provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. PTI COR TKP ARU