Chhattisgarh Police on Saturday arrested five persons including a minor after a video of a man hung upside down from a tree and being beaten with sticks went viral on social media in Bilaspur district.
Bilaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Parul Mathur identified the five as Manish Khare, Yuvraj Khare, Vishwajeet Bhargav alias Janu, Bheem Kesharwani and a 15-year-old boy, all from Jhalmala village.
The victim, Mahaveer Mahaveer Suryavanshi, hails from Ratanpur area and worked as a labourer-cum-watchman in Uchchbhatti village.
On April 25-26 night, Manish Khare spotted Suryavanshi trying to sneak into his house but he escaped.
The next day, the accused handed over Suryavanshi to police. As Khare did not lodge an FIR, the police released Suryavanshi.
Khare on Thursday claimed that Suryavanshi again entered his house and damaged his motorcycle.
Then, all the accused tied Suryavanshi upside down from a tree near a brick kiln in a village and thrashed him brutally with sticks.
A local recorded the scene on the mobile phone. Police lodged a case under sections 147, 149, 294, 307, 34 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code.