Police rescue raiding officials

Police broke open the gate of a gas cylinder godown near here and rescued some officials, who were detained inside when they raided it following a complaint that permission for storing the cylinders had not been obtained, police said today.
Officials, including Inspector of Food cell Rajesh Kannan, Tahsildhar Santha, Deputy Tahsildhar Venkatachalam and the Village Administrative Officer, had raided the godown around mid-night last night but later found themselves locked up inside, police said.
Investigation revealed that the licence had not been granted for storing the cylinders in the private godown.
The officials seized the cylinders and the equipment and arrested owner Raja Narasimhan.

However, they were shocked when they found the gate of the godown locked. They informed the Srivilliputhur DSP, who rushed to the spot with a police team and broke open the lock.
It was not known who locked the gate, police said, adding, a case has been registered and search on for the culprits who locked it.