Bhopal/Umaria, 23 Jan 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday ordered the suspension of the Bandhavgarh Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) after two men were beaten up on a road allegedly in his presence for overtaking his vehicle in Umaria district.

CM Yadav gave the suspension order and said on social media that "such behaviour with the common man in the state will not be tolerated". Police have already registered a case against Bandhavgarh SDM Amit Singh, tehsildar Vinod Kumar, SDM's driver Narendra Das Panika and tehsildar's assistant Sandeep Singh in connection with the incident took place on the outskirts of Umaria town on Monday evening, officials said.

A video of the incident surfaced on social media, purportedly showing two men being beaten up in the presence of the SDM on Monday.  In a post on social media platform X, CM Yadav said, "I have directed to suspend the Bandhavgarh SDM following the incident of beating of two youths surfaced. It is an unfortunate incident."

"There is a government of good governance in the state. Such behaviour with the common man in the state will not be tolerated," he warned the officials. The SDM has earlier denied that the two men were assaulted under his watch, and claimed that one of them was driving the car carelessly and was about to hit his official vehicle. In the video, the men, surrounded by the SDM and others, could be seen being beaten up with sticks by a group of people.

Civil Line police post in-charge Amar Singh said the accused were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 294 (obscene act in public place), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention). In the complaint, one of the victims, Prakash Dahiya, who sustained injuries on his head and elsewhere, claimed that people sitting in the vehicle with "SDM" written on it got down and thrashed him and another car occupant Shivam Yadav, both residents of Bharola village, for overtaking. They also broke the window panes of his car, Dahiya alleged.

SDM Singh has earlier said he was visiting areas under his jurisdiction in his vehicle as various programmes were organised on the occasion of the Ram Lalla idol consecration in Ayodhya. He said the car in which the victims were sitting was coming at a fast speed and his driver somehow avoided a collision. Singh said he got down from his vehicle after seeing the attack on the duo and tried to calm the situation. The government official, however, denied that people travelling in his vehicle were involved in the attack.