Drunken men thrash forest officer, make him touch feet

Few hours before Independence day, an officer in uniform met humiliation at the hands of six drunken men, who thrashed the officer and made him touch their feet.

The incident took place in the forest on the foothills of a hill temple in Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh's Kurnool district.  

According to officials, the men stopped their car near the forest office in Sunnipenta area and started to consume alcohol.

Section Forest Officer Jyothi Swaroop, who was on duty, told them that consuming alcohol in forest is banned. He also asked them to furnish their identity.

The youths then started manhandling him and abused the officer.

“How dare you question the son of an MLC?” they said.

A video shows Swaroop haplessly trying to protect himself from the assault. He is seen holding the hands of a man identified as Dayanand Reddy, who claimed to be the son of former Andhra Pradesh MLC Ranga Reddy.

But, the youths went on insisting that the officer touch Dayanand's feet.

The officer obliged, apparently fearing for life.

However, Ranga Reddy dismissed Dayanand's claim and said he didn't know any on the youths.

He called them 'goons' and asked police to give them stringent punishment.

The MLC's only son Vijaydev works in the US but came home for his father's birthday. He also said that he did not know any of the attackers.

However, it is said that the youth is distantly related to Ranga Reddy and had misused his name.

“We are not in touch with some of our relatives for more than a decade. If any of them misused my father's name, give them more effective punishment", Vijay said.

"I advised them not to booze in the forest area since it is banned. They went on thrashing me. I lodged a complaint with the police, " Swaroop told local media.

The police have registered a case against the youths on charges of assaulting a public servant on duty, criminal intimidation, trespassing and insulting a public servant.

The police have detained five of the attackers and one managed to escape.

The injured section officer, Jyothi Swaroop, was treated at a local hospital.