A five-member CBI team, including a woman constable, had to be rescued by police after family members of a fellow agency official accused in a 2014 land fraud locked up the sleuths and thrashed them on Saturday morning inside a house in Greater Noida.

A CBI spokesperson said the relatives of the accused official, additional sub-inspector Sunil Dutt, assaulted the team when they reached the suspect’s village, Sonpura, in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.

“In an ongoing investigation related to a bribery case, a CBI team comprising an inspector, sub-inspector, two constables and a woman constable had gone today to Sonpura in Gautam Buddh Nagar in search of Sunil Dutt, an additional sub-inspector of the CBI, who is an accused in the case,” the spokesperson said.

“The team members were forced inside the premises and were beaten up. Mobile phones, diary and identity cards of some team members were also burnt. The team was kept hostage and was thrashed. The accused Sunil Dutt fled through the backdoor of the premises,” the spokesperson added.

Some of the agency officials alerted the local police who reached the spot and rescued the team.

“They were taken to hospital for treatment. Based on a complaint from (the) CBI, the local police has registered an FIR,” the spokesperson added.

The agency is probing a 2014 case of alleged land fraud, amounting to Rs 126 crore, linked to the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). On February 3, the agency had booked two of its officials posted in Ghaziabad, both of whom were probing the case, on the charge of criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

One of the accused, CBI inspector V.S. Rathore, was arrested while ASI Dutt went into hiding.

On Saturday morning, the five-member CBI team reached Sonpura village in connection with the probe when Dutt’s family members and relatives attacked the sleuths.

“Information was received at Ecotech-3 police station about the family and relatives of the accused misbehaving with CBI officials. The police immediately reached the spot and detained some persons from the spot. The complaint of misbehaviour was found true, a case has been registered and legal proceedings are under way,” superintendent of police (rural) Vineet Jaiswal said.

The relatives have been charged with holding government officials hostage, assaulting them and obstructing government officials on duty.

Dutt’s brother Yudhveer Singh has been arrested.