Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered the removal of the Guna Collector and the Superintendent of Police after a Dalit couple reportedly consumed pesticide while resisting an anti-encroachment drive on Tuesday.

A video doing the rounds on the social media showed Ramkumar Ahirwar, 38, and Savitri Devi, 35, resisting the police dragging them into an ambulance, even as personnel landed batons on them. Whereas another video showed children crying next to the woman who had reportedly fallen unconscious after consuming pesticide.

“Any kind of cruelty will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against those responsible,” said Mr. Chouhan on Wednesday night after issuing the order. He has initiated a high-level inquiry into the incident, while even the Gwalior Zone Inspector General of Police, who has jurisdiction over Guna, has been shunted out too.

The couple’s family had reportedly encroached upon parts of the 45-bigha land allotted for the construction of government college, sanctioned two years ago, on the outskirts of Guna, said the district administration. “When officials reached the spot, while the main encroacher Gappu Pardhi disappeared from there, the Ahirwar family consumed pesticide. They are being treated at the district hospital, where their condition is stable and health improving,” said former Collecter S. Vishwanathan on Wednesday, before his removal.

“The situation was getting out of control, but the police managed to control it. Locals even resisted their being taken to the hospital,” said Mr. Vishwanathan. Revenue officials, who had reached the spot to demarcate land, reportedly bulldozed crops sown by the family.

The family told officials they had taken the land on lease and cultivated it for years. “We are in debt. We have no other option but to end our lives as our crops have been destroyed,” Ms. Devi said. Later, officials registered a case against them for obstructing them while on duty.

Sharing the video of the couple being dragged, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Twitter said, “Our fight is against this thinking and injustice.” Further, BJP MP Jyotiraditya Scindia said, “I am confident that action will be taken against all those who are responsible for this heinous act.”

Asking the State government what kind of “jungle raj” the incident represented, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath said, “Even if there is a land dispute involving the affected youth it can be resolved legally. But by taking law into their own hands like this, beating mercilessly him, his wife, relatives and innocent children, what kind of justice is this? All this because they belong to a Dalit family, are poor farmers?”