Kendrapara, May 8: An angry mob today laid siege on a police station and forcibly snatched away a detainee from police custody in Rajkanika police station, about 65km from here, sparking off tension in the area.

The detainee, Ratnakar Rout (34), who was freed from police custody, was an ad hoc teacher of nearby government-run Kanika High School.

Police had allegedly been put Rout under detention on charge of keeping close ties with a newly formed trade union headed by a former gangster. Police were taken in for surprise as around 400 people barged into police station and took away the detained teacher. The mob that included women, however, did not indulge in vandalism even as the police officers, fearing possible attack, had fled the police station leaving the lowly ranked constables to face people’s wrath.

“I was sleeping in my house in Tentulikani. Police knocked at my house and I was dragged into a police van. They slapped me after I had enquired. Later, they told me that I was being detained for getting involved in the trade union run by a former gangster. I politely refuted the allegations. Then they beat me up mercilessly. One of my colleagues, who had rushed to the police station, was also beaten up by the police,” said Rout.

“The incident is being probed into. The detention was part of the pending warrant execution drive that is presently being undertaken by the district police. It is found that the teacher was innocent and unlawfully detained, the errant police officials would face disciplinary action,” said Narasingha Bhol, Kendrapara superintendent of police.

Protesting against the police atrocity, the district Congress committee has decided to stage demonstration in front of the Rajkanika police station on May 13.

District congress committee president Debendra Nath Sharma said: “Police in this politically sensitive district has tuned into a tool of the BJD. Innocent people are being implicated under trumped-up charges. The growing anger against the system manifested in today’s incident.”