Two persons have been arrested for allegedly tying a youth to a tree for plucking unripe mangoes in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, police said on Tuesday.
The youth belongs to a Dalit community but it did not seem to be a caste-related incident, a senior official said. The incident took place on Saturday at Anjanvihire village.
The 17-year-old youth, a std 12th student, allegedly plucked two green mangoes while passing through the field of Vivek Ravindra Patil.
Pravin Pawrya, who was working in the field, called Patil, and both of them tied up the youth to the tree with a rope, as per the complaint. He was released after two hours.
The farm owner also recorded the incident on mobile phone which was circulated on various WhatsApp groups, police said.
An FIR was registered against Patil and Pawrya under IPC sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 324 (assault) as well as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and they were arrested on Tuesday.
Jalgaon Superintendent of Police Pravin Munde told reporters that prima facie the incident did not seem to be related to the victim's caste, but further probe was on.
