The 22-year-old Indian who recorded the footage and posted it on YouTube was arrested by police and is being questioned, 7Days newspaper reported.
Police said the official's family had complained that the video-maker defamed their relative and filmed him without permission.
The senior Emirati government official who is accused of carrying out the assault has been referred to the courts.
The video shows the official repeatedly hitting an Indian van driver with his agal and punching him. Eventually, a passer-by intervenes to break things up.
The man who took the clip said before his arrest on Tuesday, "I didn't plan to film it but I just felt like something was about to happen, so I switched on my camera.
"After I went home, I wasn't sure if I should share it. But then I just thought to myself, 'no one will ever know it happened. At least this way everyone would see it".
The official is in custody and faces a charge of minor assault. The videomaker continues to be questioned. He has not yet had any charges laid against him, he said.
Under UAE law, the minor assault charge could potentially earn the official one year in jail and a maximum fine of Dhs10,000 if found guilty.
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