Ujjain youth beaten with stick, 60 blows in 26 seconds:Victim says cops tried to bury the case; assault caught on camera

A video of a brutal assault went viral on social media on May 21, showing a young man lying helpless in a field while five to six attackers repeatedly beat him with sticks. In the 26-second clip, he was struck more than 60 times, raising questions about his identity, the attackers, and whether he survived. Bhaskar traced the victim and spoke to him after considerable effort. The victim, Sandeep Kumawat, revealed that the attack took place on May 11. Despite filing a complaint, no action was taken by police for 10 days. The case came to light only after a farmer shared the video on social media, exposing alleged police negligence. Following the video’s circulation, police arrested eight accused. The motive behind the attack and the police’s delayed response have since come under scrutiny. Read the report… What happened that day
Sandeep Kumawat, a resident of Pipliyahana village in Ujjain district, is the only child of his parents. He works as a DJ in nearby villages. The incident took place on May 11. Sandeep was returning home from Ujjain. As he turned from the Ujjain-Unhel highway onto the village road, near the temple, 8-10 boys stopped his bike. They forcibly took him to a field. There, they demanded 5 thousand rupees per month as ‘hafta’ (protection money). When he refused, the attackers, armed with sticks, assaulted him. Sandeep says, They kept beating me for about three minutes. They had covered their faces with cloth and were also making a video while beating me. Questions on the role of the police
Sandeep has leveled serious allegations against the police, claiming that after the May 11 assault, he reached Bhairavgarh police station, but officers only accepted his complaint and took no action. Suffering from severe injuries, he was admitted to a government hospital, where he underwent treatment for five days. He alleges that some policemen socialize with the accused at local dhabas, which is why no action was taken. According to Sandeep, the FIR was registered only on May 20 after the assault video went viral. He calls the video’s emergence a ‘miracle,’ saying the attackers had sent it to a farmer while threatening him: ‘Pay us money, or you’ll end up like Sandeep.’ Instead of giving in to fear, the farmer forwarded the video to an acquaintance, from where it spread on social media. Police, however, have offered a different explanation. ASI Rajesh, the investigating officer at Bhairavgarh police station, said the delay occurred because officers were occupied with a girl’s kidnapping case. Following the video’s circulation, police arrested all eight accused. The terror of ‘Dhaba Gang’
Local people know these miscreants, active on Ujjain-Unhel Road, by the name ‘Dhaba Gang’. There is terror of this gang in Pipliyahana village, which has a population of about 1200. According to villagers, this gang not only extorts weekly but also lends money at 10 percent interest. If the money is not returned, they seize the land. Sandeep’s associates say that there are 25 to 30 boys in the gang. Sandeep forced to hide for 21 days
Sandeep had been hiding at relatives’ places for the past 21 days, saving his life. He has also stopped his DJ work because it requires him to go outside the village. Sandeep says, Even today, if I see a stranger in the village, I wonder if he is a member of the Dhaba gang? I still haven’t recovered from that trauma. Case of mutual dispute
On one hand, Sandeep is calling it extortion and gang terror, while the police’s story is different. According to ASI Rajesh, this is not a case of extortion but a dispute over playing DJ. Police say that a few days ago, Sandeep went to a village to play DJ, where he had a dispute with Bunty, Rupesh, and Kuldeep. Due to this animosity, they surrounded Sandeep. Police claim that wooden sticks were not used in the attack, but rather plastic pipes.