A group of people caught an alleged motorcycle thief in Araria town of Bihar, and confined, thrashed and severely tortured him by inserting chilli powder in his private parts.

The matter came to light when a gruesome video of the incident went viral on social media platforms on Monday, attracting widespread condemnation and forcing police to swing into action. An FIR has been registered and one person involved in the inhuman act has been arrested so far.

The accused had nabbed the 30-year-old victim at Islamnagar under Araria police station on Sunday on the suspicion that he was a motorcycle thief. They tied his wrists with a plastic rope, beat him up and then pulled his pants down to insert red pepper powder in his private parts. After torturing him, they handed him over to the police. However, he was released after an hour because nobody submitted a written complaint against him.

“The victim is a resident of Simraha police station area in the district and has a criminal record. He had previously gone to jail for motorcycle theft. He did not inform us about the torture when the people brought him to us,” Araria station house officer (SHO) Manish Kumar Rajak told reporters.

Describing the incident as “inhuman”, the Araria police said that their technical wing verified the video and found it to be of Islamnagar.

“One person identified as Mohammad Sifat has been arrested. We have registered an FIR. Efforts are on to verify and apprehend the other accused,” the Araria police said in its statement.