Nationalist Congress Party MLA Suresh Lad appears to have been caught on camera slapping a Maharashtra deputy collector in public view. Though the incident took place in Raigad district last week, the video footage went viral on social media on Wednesday.

While the senior bureaucrat, Abhay Kalgudkar, has not filed any formal complaint yet, the legislator from Sharad Pawar's party has denied the incident altogether, reported the Times of India.

The video shows Kalgudkar, who had called a meeting last Thursday to resolve a land acquisition-related dispute, pleading with the Karjat legislator to stop, as Lad is seen slapping him. According to NDTV, the assault took place after the two got into a spat about the compensation awarded to farmers whose land was acquired for an oil pipeline. Lad supposedly felt that the compensation offered was too low.