Nine Congress workers have been arrested for allegedly assaulting BJP's Pratapgarh MP Sangam Lal Gupta, police said on Wednesday.

Acting on a complaint by the Member of Parliament, his security officer and party workers, police had lodged five cases against Congress leader Pramod Tiwari, MLA Aradhana Misra and their supporters.

A scuffle had broken out between workers of the BJP and Congress during the ‘Garib Kalyan Mela’ held in Sangipur block auditorium here on Saturday. On the basis of video footage and eye witness accounts, nine people have been identified and arrested for attacking the MP, Sangipur SHO Tushardutt Tyagi said.

Gupta had accused Tiwari, an ex-Congress MP, of leading a mob of his party workers to beat him up and his party's activists during the government function.

The BJP MP alleged that the incident took place when he and his party workers reached the venue, where Tiwari was sitting on the dais.

Lalganj Circle Officer Jagmohan Singh was suspended for laxity in duty, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar informed on Sunday just after the incident's news had broken out.

"Seeing me, Tiwari and his supporters first began hooting at me and BJP workers accompanying me. Later, they grew violent and attacked us. They beat me up and tore my kurta," he had said.

However, the Congress refuted the charges leveled by the BJP MP and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.

(With PTI Inputs)