Three men of the Gurjar community allegedly scalped a Dalit leader in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district for “wearing a turban”, PTI reported on Tuesday quoting the police. The incident took place on September 3 in Mahoba village. The police registered a case against the men on Tuesday and are searching for them.

According to police, the men called Sardar Singh Jatav, a Bahujan Samaj Party worker, to the house of one of the accused, Surendra Gurjar. There, the men allegedly tied Jatav up and abused him.

“Jatav alleged in his statement that Gurjar and two others removed the skin on his head with a knife,” said Badam Singh Yadav who is in charge of Narwar police station. Yadav said Jatav is still undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gwalior.

The president of the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Shivpuri district, Dayashankar Gautam, on Monday said that Jatav was attacked for “wearing a turban”. He said the accused tied up Jatav after he reached Gurjar’s house and thrashed him. They objected to Jatav wearing the turban. Gautam claimed that the accused allowed Jatav to leave after a while.

Gautam alleged that the police initially refused to accept Jatav’s complaint against the Gurjars. Following this, a delegation of the Bahujan Samaj Party submitted a memorandum to the Shivpuri superintendent of police on Monday.