Amethi, May 10 (IANS): Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh thrashed a BJP leader's husband inside a police station in Amethi while officials made half-hearted attempts to save the victim.

The victim was identified as Deepak Singh, the husband of Rashmi Singh, a BJP municipal election candidate.

The incident took place inside the Gauriganj Kotwali police station in front of dozens of policemen who struggled to keep Rakesh Pratap Singh and his supporters off Deepak Singh.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

According to the SP MLA, Deepak Singh arrived at the police station and verbally abused him while he was sitting on a protest there.

This made him lose his temper, he said.

Rakesh Pratap Singh said he had been on protest because Deepak Singh and his supporters had assaulted some of his supporters, but the police had not taken any action.

"I have telephoned all senior police and district officials but no action has been taken on the developments which led to a flare-up," he told IANS.

In the middle of the protest, Deepak Singh arrived at the station and was heard loudly abusing the SP legislator and his supporters.

A senior police officer said the situation suddenly got out of hand and the police had little time to react when the two political opponents came face-to-face.

The issue has now been resolved, and legal action will be taken against both individuals, with cases registered against them, the officer added.