A Bharatiya Janata Party leader and his supporters allegedly attacked the chief municipal officer of a civic body in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, leaving him critically injured. BJP Panchayat President Ram Sushil Patel was arrested following the incident, NDTV reported.

A local court dismissed Patel’s bail application and sent him to judicial custody, ANI reported.

Patel and his supporters allegedly attacked Satna Nagar Panchayat Chief Municipal Officer Devratna Soni Devratna Soni with sticks, NDTV reported. Soni, profusely bleeding, was first taken to the Ramnagar primary health centre and then to the district hospital. He is in a critical condition.

However, both Soni and Patel filed cases against each other, Satna Superintendent of Police Riyaz Iqbal. Patel claimed that Soni beat him up on the orders of a Congress leader. “Both of them have filed cases, and their statements will be recorded,” Iqbal said. “Police will examine CCTV footage of the incident and take appropriate action on the basis of an investigation.”

On June 26, the Madhya Pradesh Police had arrested MLA Akash Vijayvargiya in Indore for assaulting a municipal corporation officer with a cricket bat. The legislator is the son of BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. A court in Indore denied Vijayvargiya bail and sent him to judicial custody. It also transferred the case to a special court in Bhopal.

In a video clip of the incident, Akash Vijayvargiya was seen attacking the officer, who was part of an anti-encroachment drive in Indore. The BJP legislator hit the officer with a cricket bat and chased him even as security personnel tried to stop him.