Balasore: The tribals of Nilgiri have threatened to launch an agitation from Thursday in protest against police inaction in bringing to book forest personnel who had allegedly molested a tribal woman last week.

The local tribal people said that they would stage a blockade on the State Highway-19, that runs between Nilgiri-Thakurmunda via Kaptipada, from Thursday demanding immediate police action against the accused.

The tribals are in up in arms against forest department as they alleged that a 35-year-old woman of their community was molested by forest guards when she was sleeping on a manchan (thatched watch tower) along with her infant to guard farmland on Friday night. The foresters alleged that the police didn't take any action against the accused persons despite her complaint.

The forest personnel who were accused of the attempt to rape and molestation are forest guard Anjan Das and members of Sabuja Bahni Buddhiram Singh, Ganeswar Biswal and Musika Singh. Musika managed to escape but the remaining three were caught and thrashed by the local people on Friday night when the lady raised an alarm.

Anjan, Buddhiram and Ganeswar have been undergoing treatment at the Nilgiri Sub-Divisional Hospital.

The police said that an inquiry was in progress. The forest department, on the other hand, alleged that the tribals had fabricated the story as the department had carried out raids in the woman's house to nab her husband after they seized raw deer meet from their house.

"About a kilogram of deer meat was seized from their house on Friday afternoon. Since her husband escaped from the scene, the raid was conducted in their house at night. The woman raised false alarm and mobilised people. They had also beaten up our personnel," said range officer of Kuldiha Laxman Pradhan..