Angered by the manhandling of two youth of their village by a group of four persons on Tuesday night, over 50 residents of Arepalayam reportedly took the group forcibly from the guesthouse where they were staying and brought them to the office of the District Forest Officer, Hasanur, for enquiry on Wednesday morning.
The villagers demanded that a case be registered since one of the group members, claiming to be an official of the Forest Department, had threatened the youth with an air gun.
The residents complained to the Forest Department officials that the four persons were in an inebriated state and had intercepted and beaten up the two youth from the village.
Forest Department officials said no case was registered since the incident had not taken place inside the forest area.
However, the reason behind possession of an air gun would be determined, Forest Department officials said.
The four-member group, from an environmental organisation, reportedly sought to elicit the reason for the presence of the two youth near Mavallam during the late night hour.
The group later left the office of the Hasanur DFO, went to the Hasanur police station and reportedly apologised to the agitated villagers in the presence of officials.
