VELLORE: Three youth, mistaken for red sanders smugglers, were picked up for inquiry by a police team from Puliyanthangal village near Walajapet on Thursday. This created a flutter in Walajapet as the people who were eyewitnesses to the apprehension of the three thought it was a gang war and that it was not a police team.
Settu (alias) Suresh (27) of Pundi village was picked by the police at gun-point from Pundi village and sped away in a black sports utility vehicle. On seeing this, Suresh’s friends Vinod and Purusothaman, both aged 27, of the same village followed the SUV on a bike.
The police, noticing the duo following the car, picked them up also. The relatives of the three thought that they were being kidnapped and lodged a complaint with the local police.
The police attached to Walajapet Station found that they were picked for inquiry by the neighbouring State police in connection with red sanders smuggling cases, said the police. Inquiry revealed that it was a case of mistaken identity. “Andhra police mistook Suresh for an accused and had taken him for interrogation. The two others were taken along with Suresh for following their car,” said a officer.
The district police has raised the issue with their counterparts in Andhra to release the trio and address such inter-State problems.