A former village head was arrested here after he allegedly made a man announce that if anyone from the Dalit community entered his field, they would be beaten with shoes 50 times and made to pay Rs 5,000 as fine, police said on Tuesday.
In a video, Kunverpal is seen beating a drum to make the announcement on Monday in front of houses of Dalits in Pawti Khurd village in the district's Charthawal area, they said.
Former village head Rajbir Tyagi made Kunverpal make the announcement after members of the Dalit community refused to work in his field, locals claimed. Tyagi was furious about the refusal and took the step to ban them from entering his field and use a tubewell, they said. Both Tyagi and Kunverpal have been arrested and charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhishek Yadav said.
Police said that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act provisions have also been included in the case. The IPC sections pertain to statement conducting public mischief (505) and provocation with intent to cause riot (153), the SSP said.
Rajbir Tyagi is the son of Vicky Tyagi, a gangster who was shot dead in 2015. Vicky Tyagi was one of the accused in the 2011 Barkali case, in which eight people of a family were killed. Later, they were produced before a special SC/ST court which sent them to judicial custody till May 23.
(With PTI inputs)
