New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Taking suo motu cognisance, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Monday issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government over an incident in which a Dalit sarpanch and his family members were allegedly assaulted and manhandled by an upper caste secretary of a gram panchayat.

The incident occurred at Dhamchi village in Chattarpur district on Sunday over the hoisting of the national flag.

Taking strong note of the incident, its Chairman Vijay Sampla asked the authorities to submit an action taken report immediately.

As per the information received by the commission on the basis of a viral video of the incident, sarpanch Hannu Basor was allegedly kicked and manhandled by gram panchayat secretary Sunil Tiwari as the sarpanch had hoisted the tricolour in his absence.

As the video went viral, Sampla tweeted and asked the Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh and the Director General of Police to submit an action taken report.

"The Dalit sarpanch was attacked for hoisting the national flag during the prestigious occasion of I-Day," Sampla tweeted.

Sampla also cautioned the officers that if action taken report is not received, the commission might exercise the powers of the civil court conferred on it under Article 338 of the Constitution of India and issue a summon for personal appearance before the commission in New Delhi.