Five police personnel, including the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Gondia Police Station, were detained by the villagers at Kokeida under Dhenkanal district over alleged police failure to prevent the unauthorised construction of a poultry farm, on Sunday.
The policemen were reportedly released on Monday afternoon after the SDPO and IIC of the police station assured the villagers of resolving the issue at the earliest.
As per reports, on Sunday, the police team went to the village at around 9 pm to resolve a long-standing dispute over the construction of a poultry farm in the locality that had allegedly violated environmental and sanitation norms.
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Sources said the villagers have been opposing the construction of the poultry farm for the last over six months, which caused tension at different times. They allege that the construction of the farm in close proximity to the village is not only a health hazard, but the foul smell emanating from the bird droppings has made breathing difficult.
They said though they took up the issue with the local administration and police on several occasions, their complaints remained unheard.
As per reports, a group of villagers on Sunday dug the road leading to the poultry farm to stop the access of people working there. The farm owner informed the Gondia police about the obstruction. A police patrolling team led by ASI Laxmidhar Behera Gondia went to the spot and started questioning the villagers.
Enraged at the police intervention, the infuriated villagers detained the policemen and took the patrolling van into their possession.
The police team was finally released on Monday afternoon following assurances by the higher-ups in the department to look into the complaint.