Six Madhya Pradesh policemen suspended after video of them assaulting couple in Guna sparks outrage

Bhopal: After shunting out the collector, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Guna district and Inspector General (IG) of Gwalior range over the beating of a Dalit couple at Guna, the Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday suspended six police personnel allegedly involved in the incident. Outgoing Guna SP Tarun Nayak issued orders suspending six police personnel, including two women cops, official sources said. Ashok Singh Kushwaha, Rajendra Sharma, Pavan Yadav, Narendra Rawat, Neetu Yadav and Rani Raghuwanshi were suspended. The incident at Guna town comes ahead of bypolls to 25 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh. Taking the matter seriously, the BJP government on Wednesday night transferred collector S Vishwnathan, SP Nayak and IG Rajababu Singh, a senior official said. Home minister Narottam Mishra also informed that a high-level probe had been ordered by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan into the incident. On Tuesday, a Dalit couple drank pesticide when officials tried to evict them from a piece of government land in Guna city, allotted for a college, which they were cultivating. Their condition is said to be stable. Rajkumar Ahirwar (38) and his wife Savitri (35) had reportedly leased the land from those who had encroached on it, officials said. Police were compelled to use force against them as they resisted the eviction and refused to go to hospital after drinking pesticide, officials said. A video which went viral on social media showed the police beating the man with batons severely. Opposition Congress slammed the use of force and demanded action against those responsible for the incident. Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma alleged that Gabbu Pardi who had allegedly encroached on the land was a Congress worker who was close to a senior Congress leader. “It is a very unfortunate incident. The government has taken it very seriously and removed the Collector, SP and IG,” Sharma said. State Congress working president and former minister Jitu Patwari termed Sharmas allegations as “baseless” and alleged that Pardi was a BJP worker. State Congress spokesman Bhupendra Gupta demanded a probe by a siting judge and suspension of senior officials.