Captive OC, SI freed after 10 hours in Bihar

The villagers were "angry" with the OC for allegedly beating them up at a polling booth.

An officer in-charge of a police station and a sub-inspector taken hostage by "angry" villagers in the district, were rescued after over 10 hours of captivity by the police using force on Tuesday, official sources said.

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The police freed the officer in-charge of Bath police station Dinesh Kumar Singh and sub-inspector of Sultanganj police station after they were taken hostage by villagers in the wee hours at Kumaintha panchayat, about 45 km from Bhagalpur, they said.

The villagers were "angry" with the OC for allegedly beating them up at a polling booth "without any valid reason" during the third phase of panchayat elections in Shyampur village on May 21, sources said, adding a few army jawans who had come to the village on holiday were among those reportedly beaten up by the OC.

They said reinforcements under Deputy Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Bharti and Sub-divisional Officer (Sadar) Dhananjay Thakur initially tried to pacify the villagers, assuring action against the OC, including his transfer.

When the villagers refused to heed them, the police used mild baton charge to free the two, held captive since 2 am in a temple, sources said.

They alleged the villagers, as part of a "well crafted plan" telephoned the policemen about the presence of criminals in the village and when the police arrived, took the two cative.