The Madhya Pradesh Police on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party worker, who was seen assaulting an elderly man with mental illness, had posed as a Central Bureau of Investigation officer while committing the crime, PTI reported.

KL Dangi, who is in charge of the Manasa police station in the Neemuch district, said that the accused man, Dinesh Kushwaha, had also allegedly threatened a minor boy and forced him to shoot a video of the incident.

The video shared on social media showed Kushwaha repeatedly slapping 65-year-old Bhawarlal Jain and asking him about his identity. Kushwaha was seen asking Jain if his name was Mohammed and demanding his Aadhaar card.

Jain, a resident of Sarsi village in Madya Pradesh’s Ratlam district, had gone missing after attending a religious event in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh district on May 16. His body was found in front of a car showroom in Neemuch on May 19.

Kushwaha, who is the husband of a former BJP corporator, was arrested on May 21 after Jain’s family approached the police with the video. He has been charged under Section 302 (murder) and Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

On Tuesday, Dangi said that another case has been registered against six members of a WhatsApp group named Swacch Bharat for circulating the video of the assault on social media.

The case was registered under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

On May 22, Madhya Pradesh BJP secretary Rajneesh Agrawal had said that the incident was unfortunate.

“An accused is an accused and it has nothing to do with party politics,” Agrawal had said. “None of the people involved in such an act will be spared by the state government.”

The state party chief had said that Kushwaha does not hold any position in the BJP. “He is simply a worker,” he had said.

Congress leader Kamal Nath had asked why criminals in Madhya Pradesh were “so confident of themselves” and had alleged that the state government was only interested in event management.

“Just where is law and order in the state?” he had asked. “Till when will people be killed in this manner?”