In the video, contractor is seen kicking the engineer on his head.
A cellphone video has surfaced from Andhra Pradesh that shows a contractor and his goons thrashing a government engineer in full public view. In the video -- shot on late Monday evening in Ananthpur, around 360 km from Hyderabad -- the contractor, Narasimha Reddy, is seen kicking the engineer on his head. As Kistappa, who was sitting on the road falls, Narasimha Reddy walks over and aims a few more kicks at him, shouting and threatening all the time.
After midnight, the police managed to track down Narasimha Reddy and book multiple cases against him and his collaborators, accusing him of assaulting a government official on duty.
Mr Kistappa, who works in the municipal administration department, said he had intervened earlier in the day to tell off Mr Reddy when he came to their office and abused an assistant executive engineer for non-clearance of bills.
"I am not directly dealing with Narasimha Reddy. I only intervened to tell him that this is not the way to behave in a government office,'' Kistappa said.
Mayor Madamanchi Swaroopa, who went along with the officials to the One Town police station to complain said the contractor had not completed the work allotted to him but was demanding payment. He had been engaged for some roads and drainage works.
Kistappa said Reddy had even threatened that he was from Kadapa and could even slaughter the division engineer if provoked. Kadapa, an area in the Rayalseema district of Andhra Pradesh, is notorious for violence and murders.
Narasimha Reddy, who has now been arrested, said he was frustrated as the officials were not clearing his dues for several months. "I was angry and frustrated. My crops are dried up and I am in financial difficulty. They were not clearing my bills. And he abused me, so I also abused and beat him up. Why would I take it lying down,'' Reddy said.
He also claimed that the government officials had demanded bribes but was not able to substantiate his claims. Mr Kistappa was not dealing with his case.
Anantpur town deputy superintendent of police Venkat Rao said Reddy had raised bills for Rs 28 lakh, of which Rs 24 lakh had been cleared and another Rs 4 lakh was pending.