A man who alleges that Tamil Nadu Assembly Deputy Speaker and Thuraiyur MLA Ravi Shankar assaulted him on Diwali evening released a fresh video on Monday claiming he had been threatened and forced to record an earlier video supporting the legislator's version of the incident, news agency ANI reported.

Source: ANI

The complainant, Karthik Kumar, a resident of Kannabiran Colony in Thuraiyur, Tiruchirappalli district, says he approached Ravi Shankar in the Mannachanallur area on Sunday evening to raise complaints about drinking water shortages and garbage accumulation in his locality. He alleges the Deputy Speaker got out of his car, abused him, assaulted him repeatedly, kicked him and chased him away. A video purportedly showing the assault went viral on social media on Sunday, and Karthik Kumar received treatment at a government hospital for his injuries.

Source: ANI

A joint video — then a fresh set of allegations

After the video spread, Ravi Shankar released a video sitting alongside Karthik Kumar, claiming the incident had been misrepresented on social media and that what happened was a scuffle caused by overcrowding. In his fresh video, however, Karthik Kumar contradicted that version. He alleged that his two-wheeler key, a three-sovereign gold chain and his spectacles were taken away before he was chased out, that the complaint he lodged was registered as an assault by unidentified persons, and that a police inspector threatened him with a trespassing case. He further claimed the joint video had been recorded six or seven times before one version was selected and released by the legislator's supporters.

Minister promises an impartial inquiry

Reacting to the controversy on Monday, Tamil Nadu Minister Rajmohan said the police would conduct an impartial inquiry into the allegations and that appropriate action would be taken if the claims of police threats were established. He noted that the man who released the video had made contradictory statements, raising suspicions of political interference, and said an inquiry should also establish to whom the video was first sent.

Source: ANI

The allegations have drawn sharp political reactions. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami condemned the alleged assault, DMK spokesperson T. K. S. Elangovan criticised it, and Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin raised the Deputy Speaker allegation in a wider attack on the state government's law-and-order record, Mirror Now reported.

Source: Mirror Now

All of the assault and coercion claims remain allegations at this stage: no police finding on the incident has been reported so far, and the Deputy Speaker's side maintains the episode was a crowd scuffle that was misrepresented. What happens next turns on the impartial inquiry the minister has promised.