BALANGIR: Two forest officials on Tuesday were held hostage by four people in Thalbandh village under Deogaon block in the district. They had gone on a field visit after getting information that a wild elephant had destroyed paddy crop in the village.
As they approached the site, the four accused persons took them hostage and locked them up for nine hours in a farm house of one of the accused Dhoba Patel. Later, police reached the spot and rescued them. The two forest officials are Kamal Lochan Mahapatra and Padmalochan Naik. The remaining three accused are Narasingha Patel, Sushant Patel and Jagdish Nayak. A case has been registered in Tusra police station.