SDM Thrashes Mask-Clad Men During Checking Drive In UP’s Ballia, Videos Go Viral, Officer Suspended

A senior government official in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district was suspended on August 20 after videos emerged of him and a team of home guards beating up people randomly during a mask checking drive. Two videos of the Bilthara Road SDM Ashok Chaudhary beating up youths went viral on the social media. In the one-minute clip, Sub Divisional Magistrate Ashok Chaudhary and his team were seen forcing two mask-clad men out of a shop and thrashing them with sticks. In the footage, one of the two men, who were assaulted by the home guards, an auxiliary to the police who help in maintaining internal security, was seen bleeding. The victim youths lodged a complaint with the police. Taking serious note of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath suspended Chaudhary and attached him with the Revenue Board, officials said in Lucknow. More clips showed the same government team assaulting people at a government complex, including an elderly person. Chaudhary is seen beating the locals including a person going on a bike with a woman at the main gate of the tehsil while in the other.