Farmers abduct two Noida officials

While two cars with other officials managed to flee,the car with Kumar and Verma was surrounded by the villagers.

Two senior officials of the Greater Noida Authority were on Saturday taken hostage by farmers protesting against the land acquisition move by the state government for development projects.

Authorities said they knew where Deputy Director agriculture Dhurendra Kumar and Deputy Director social welfare A K Verma were being held captive. Efforts were still on to secure their release at the time of filing this report.

The two officials were reportedly on their way for land inspection around Mirzapur village of Greater Noida with other officials when villagers waylaid them around 5 pm. While two cars with other officials managed to flee,the car with Kumar and Verma was surrounded by the villagers.

The officials were attacked and taken hostage. We have confirmation that they have been held captive in Mirzapur village. We have been trying to rescue the officials, said DM,Gautam Buddha Nagar,Deepak Aggarwal.

The police,meanwhile,have found Satyapal,the driver of the abducted officials. He was found injured and unconscious in a house in the village, confirmed a senior police officer.

On February 18,two officials,including Deputy Collector SP Singh,were abducted by villagers. The two were trying to negotiate with farmers who were protesting against land acquisition in the area.

A senior police officer said earlier on Saturday some villagers had abducted a woman constable but she was released after some time. In the morning,some villagers abducted a woman constable,Rusilla,who was out on her Scooty. However,she was released after an hour, he said.

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The day also saw villagers of Bhatta Parsol clash with the police at least twice over the land acquisition move.

The farmers went on a protest first in January,demanding change in the Land Acquisition Act and higher compensation for their land. Although the administration had then pacified them to some extent,fresh clashes have erupted over the past few days.