Patna: Construction work on the upcoming Deedarganj-Bidupur bridge over the Ganga came to a halt after the private agency workers engaged there came under attack on Saturday evening.

A representative of the agency, Kanhai Kumar, on Sunday lodged an FIR with Rustampur police outpost in Vaishali district demanding action against the accused, suspected to be residents of Rustampur Panchpairia village in Vaishali district.

According to the police complaint, Manoj Rai, Pramod Rai and Vinod Rai accompanied by some others reached the construction site at Hemantpur around 5.30pm on Saturday and held two workers hostage.

The men tied up the workers' hands and feet and thrashed them. One of the attackers also fired in the air to terrorise the workers. One of the bullets hit the tyre of a machine being used in the construction work. The attackers also damaged other machines being used to build the approach road to the six-lane bridge connecting Patna's Deedarganj with Bidupur in Vaishali district.

The complainant Kanhaiya, a resident of Begusarai, said his company, Sai Construction, had been awarded the contract for construction of the approach road from the Bidupur side. The attackers allegedly demanded Rs 25 lakh as extortion and threatened the company supervisor Abhimanyu Kumar with dire consequences if it was not paid.

Ajay Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Rustampur police outpost, said a case of extortion had been lodged against five named accused and some others on the basis of the statement of the director of the company.

"Raids were conducted to nab the accused but they are absconding," the SHO told The Telegraph.