July 16, 2020: A Dalit couple in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district attempted to commit suicide by drinking pesticides in front of police when a team of local administration bulldozed their crops in a bid to remove encroachment on government land.

As per reports, the couple and local residents said they were forcibly removed but the local administration refuted these allegations and said a local land mafia was resisting an anti-encroachment drive by the police and using poor people to thwart the government’s efforts.

The couple- Ramkumar Ahirwar, 37, a resident of Janakpur Chak village and his wife Savitri Ahirwar, 35 -- were rushed to the district hospital in Guna on Tuesday where their condition was said to be stable, added police.

Regarding the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted today in Hindi with the video from Guna, "Our fight is against this mentality and injustice,"

BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted that the incident was being investigated. "The Guna SP (Superintendent of Police) and Collector have been removed, and inquiry has been sought into the incident. I am confident that action will be taken against all those who are responsible for this heinous act," posted the Rajya Sabha member and former MP from Guna.

A team from the state revenue department, accompanied by cops, visited the land on Tuesday to evict the couple and start the construction of a boundary wall. The couple resisted, which led to the assault caught on camera.