25 held for detaining cops in Sundergarh

Sundergarh: Police today detained as many as 25 people of Baneilata village under Hatibari police limits in Sundergarh district for ransacking police vehicle and holding seven cops hostage while the latter had gone to arrest a warrantee.

Acting on a warrant issued by a court, the Hatibari police went to the village to arrest the person. Protesting the arrest, the villagers detained seven police personnel, including the Hatibari PS Officer In-Charge (OIC) for three hours and also damaged their vehicle.

On receiving information, a team of police force rushed to the spot and rescued the cops from the villagers' clutch. The cops also detained 25 villagers in connection with the incident

Protesting the detention, over a hundred women of the village gheraoed the Hatibari police station demanding immediate release of villagers. Rajgangpur SDPO rushed to spot to take stock of the situation.

"A platoon of police force has been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward situation," said a police official.

Meanwhile, a high-level meeting of district administration and police was held in connection with the incident till last reports came in.