Circle Officer Nilesh Mishra said the farmers were headed for the Devchara market on their tractor-trolley loaded with chilli when the accident occurred outside Bhamora police station

A gun battle broke out at 3:30 pm in a forest near Muhkot-Aamjhar villages under Khallari police station limits when a District Reserve Guard (DRG) team under Dhamtari Superintendent of Police Anjneya Varshney was out on an anti-Naxalite operation

A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which went to Bihar to investigate the UGC NET paper leak case, was attacked by villagers in Nawada. The local police say the villagers thought the team was fake. A case has been lodged against around 200 people. Only eight of them have been named.

The assault has been recorded on cellphone, and the people involved are being identified on basis of the videos, the police said. Four persons have been arrested.

A senior officer of the local police, Ambrish Rahul, said the team was at Kasiyadih village when they were attacked. The officials were rescued after the arrival of local police.

The team — four officials and a woman constable — had gone to look for a person whose cellphone they were tracking. But the villagers beat up the officials, calling them fake. They also vandalised the vehicles.

In face of the unexpected attack, the team called in the local police, who somehow pacified the villagers.

The team conducted their investigation in presence of the local police. Two cellphones have been seized on basis of location.

The CBI officials said after investigation of the information contained in the phones, people involved in the paper leak will be arrested.

The UGC-NET, through which students can choose a career in teaching in higher education institutions, was cancelled earlier this week. The cancellation came a day after the test was held over suspicion that the paper may have been leaked. The Centre had announced they suspected the exam integrity may have been “compromised”.