Visuals show the cop struggling to get up from the ground as the angry crowd leaves.

Bhopal/ New Delhi:

A disturbing video has emerged from Madhya Pradesh of a policeman being thrashed by locals in a village with sticks. Villagers have alleged the cop had hit a man on his head. Police, however, said the locals got angry when they were told to shut shops after Covid curfew was violated.

The 17-second clip posted by news agency ANI shows several angry men in a village in Chhatarpur, about 330 km from state capital Bhopal, brutally thrashing the cop. One of them apparently has a head injury. Nobody is wearing a mask as mandated by the government.

Another video shows some angry men shouting; one of them is the man with the head injury. He is shouting abuses on camera.

Visuals show the cop struggling to get up from the ground as the angry crowd leaves. A couple of sticks can be seen lying around.

When he is asked why was he beaten up, the policeman, says: “They hit me when they were told to shut the shops.”

#WATCH | A policeman was beaten up by a group of people after he allegedly hit a local on his head in a village in Chhatarpur, MP where he had gone to enforce lockdown y’day

“Staff of Dial 100 went to the village on being informed that shops were open there,” said DSP Shashank pic.twitter.com/SXPIGnGH7C

— ANI (@ANI) May 28, 2021

Speaking to reporters, another police officer Shashank Jain said: “We had got inputs that Covid curfew is being violated in Jhamtuli village. A team went there to enforce restrictions. Some people got angry when they were told to shut shops and they thrashed staff.”

“We are still probing the matter. As soon as we get more details, we will take necessary action,” he added.

Earlier this week, a team led by a woman tehsildar (revenue official) that visited Malikhedi village of Ujjain district to motivate villagers for Covid vaccination was attacked by locals. A widely circulated video of the incident on social media shows the medical team members running after the attack on them.

Last year, some healthcare workers and civic officials were attacked by a mob of angry locals in an Indore neighbourhood when they visited the area to screen residents for signs of novel coronavirus infection.