After a video of a home guard damaging a two-wheeler under the supervision of a sub-inspector (SI) near War Memorial went viral on social media, the city police have suspended SI Haribabu and home guard Mohan.

A video shot by a local shows a home guard damaging the two-wheeler with a stick in full public view. He first damages the rear view mirrors. The SI then gives instructions to smash the front of the vehicle. After a couple of minutes, a youth comes to take the vehicle away.

The SI comes down from the police vehicle as the home guard continues to damage the two-wheeler, which was eventually driven away by the youth.

Fort Police Station personnel initially claimed that the youth had come to purchase ganja and the SI had warned him to leave the place. As he did not leave, the vehicle was damaged, they reasoned.

After the video went viral on social media, with many raising questions about the high-handedness of the police, senior officials decided to suspend the two involved in the incident, sources said.