A BJP councillor in Meerut has been arrested on the charge of beating a police officer and a woman lawyer who had ordered dinner at a restaurant the politician owns.

According to the woman’s police complaint, she had joined sub-inspector Sukhpal Singh Panwar on Friday night at Black Pepper, an eatery on the Meerut-Delhi highway, to discuss the progress of her dowry case against her husband and in-laws.

Angry at the slow service, the woman scolded a waiter. Chaudhary Manish Panwar, the proprietor, then arrived on the scene, asked his men to shut all the doors and beat up Sukhpal, her complaint says.

The woman has alleged that Manish tried to snatch the officer’s service revolver, and that one of his men attempted to tear her sari. It’s not clear whether any other customers were present.

Police sources said they had brought Manish, councillor from Ward 40, to Kankar Khera police station on Friday night to question him prior to arresting him.

“But a large number of BJP members, including several MLAs, arrived. They pushed the cops and took Manish away,” an officer said, requesting anonymity. “We waited for orders from Lucknow before arresting him on Saturday.”

Video clips of Friday night’s purported incident, apparently filmed and uploaded by the councillor’s associates, are circulating on social media.

Some of them show a man resembling Manish have an exchange with Sukhpal, who is seated at a table, before slapping him twice and punching him once, causing him to fall to the floor.

City superintendent of police Ranvijay Singh said Sukhpal too had been punished for ignoring his Dussehra duties to come to the restaurant. “We have withdrawn him from active service and sent him to police lines for the duration of the inquiry,” Singh said.

Manish had told the police on Friday night that Sukhpal and the woman were drunk and misbehaved with restaurant staff. But Singh said a medical examination showed they were not drunk.

The police have booked Manish and three unidentified men on the charges of beating a police officer, trying to snatch his revolver and molesting a woman. Efforts are on to identify and arrest the three accomplices. Manish has been remanded in three days’ jail custody.

Sukhpal told reporters on Saturday that the woman had come to the restaurant around 9pm to meet him. “I was dining at the time; so I asked her to sit at the same table out of courtesy. She ordered dinner for herself too but was kept waiting for about 30 minutes. She then she scolded a waiter. The restaurant owner came to our table and stared beating me.”

The woman corroborated Sukhpal’s version.

“I knew the officer was there and thought I would meet him to ask about the headway made in my case,” she said.

“I too ordered dinner but the restaurant staff didn’t bring it. So I scolded one of them. Suddenly some people came and started thrashing the officer. They also attacked me.”