Police, however, said the cops were trying to enforce social distancing norms.

The family of a 65-year-old tribal man in a village in Madhya Pradesh has claimed that he was beaten to death by some policemen outside a shop on Friday where he was waiting to buy groceries amid a nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of COVID-19. The district administration, however, claims that he died of a heart attack.

Tigu Budhya, a shopkeeper and a native of Dhar town, located in western part of the state, had gone to a shop in a nearby village - Gurji - on Friday morning with his son-in law, Sanjay Meda, to buy some groceries for his own shop.

"Some policemen came in four or five vehicles and started beating us with batons without provocation. We ran in different directions. I received injuries on my legs," Sanjay recalled.

Police, however, said the cops were trying to enforce social distancing norms amid the nationwide lockdown. "We got information that a man was lying on the street. We rushed him to hospital where he died," senior police officer Adityapratap Singh said.

Congress MLA Panchilal Meda has expressed doubts over police's claims. "His body had marks of assault by sticks. I request the district collector to conduct the examination of the body by a team of government doctors and a local doctor. The guilty should be punished," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day lockdown on March 24 to fight coronavirus that is spreading fast across the world and has infected over a million people already, killed more than 50,000.

In Madhya Pradesh, more than 100 people have contracted COVID-19 infection, six have died so far. Across India, over 3,300 cases have been reported, including 73 deaths.