Bhubaneswar, Oct 13 - Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Orissa were arrested for allegedly blackening the face of a government official who submitted a false report on farmers' suicide to the state government, police said Tuesday.

Jayabrata Dey and Debashis Purohit were arrested in Sambalpur town, about 320 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, for allegedly blackening the face of Deputy Director of state Agriculture Department D. C. Pai and parading him on the streets Monday.

The two BJP leaders went along with dozens of party workers to a farmers meet, organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, and manhandled Pai.

"Dey and Purohit manhandled and thrashed Pai along with their supporters and smeared black ink on his face. They also paraded him on the streets," police officer R. N. Deo told IANS.

"We arrested Dey and Purohit late Monday on the basis of a complaint filed by an agriculture official who witnessed the incident," he said.

Early this month, the state government had asked Pai to submit a report on the suicide of two farmers. The BJP leaders alleged that Pai submitted a report without visiting the spot.

"Everybody knows that the farmers committed suicide due to poor rainfall and insect attack on their crops, but Pai submitted a report to the government citing the reason as family dispute," a BJP leader said.