Cops’ civil dress makes them criminal suspects, receive raw deal from public

Paradip: In an unheard of incident, a team of Andhra Pradesh police had to face public wrath when it had gone to arrest a person in connection with a cheque bounce case at Paradipgarh here in the district. They were carrying a warrant against the accused.

As the cops arrived in the village in plain clothes, villagers suspected them to be miscreants and thrashed them. The identity of the Andhra police team was revealed after the villagers handed them over to Paradip Lock police station officials.

Sources said that the five-member police team from Andhra Pradesh had reached Paradipgarh to execute a warrant pending against one Tapas Maharath. However, the locals alleged, the police team forcibly barged into Maharath's house increasing their suspicion.

The entire incident however later turned into a controversy after Maharath's family levelled attempt to rape charges against the police team and lodged a complaint at Lock Police Station. As per latest reports, the Andhra Police also filed a counter case against Maharath's family members.