Patapur: A team of the Telangana crime branch was attacked and their service pistol and revolver snatched Thursday morning by unruly villagers in Dengadi under Patapur police limits in Ganjam district after the team went there to arrest the absconding member of a dacoit gang.
An 11-member crime branch team from Aluwala district conducted a raid to arrest Manoj Swain, 24. Police had come to search the robber’s house after taking statements from his lover.
Sources said villagers couldn’t identify the crime branch team as they had come in civil clothes. The team came at 6:30 am Thursday and searched Manoj’s house. After they got Manoj, the team was taking him near the van while his family members cried thief.
Soon villagers ran to the spot and asked the team about the matter. The sleuths replied in Hindi that reinforced the doubt of the villagers. The team failed to convince the villagers as their identity cards were written in Hindi and English languages. About 30-40 villagers attacked them with sharp weapons, sticks, stones.
In this attack, members of the team sustained minor bruises. But after a distress call from the team, a police force of Patpur police station rushed to the spot and rescued the crime branch team and sent them to a Community Health Center. Patapur police managed to recover the pistol and the rifle. The accused, his father and lover were arrested.
PNN