Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), May 19 (IANS): A team of health officials, including two women, was attacked and chased out of a village in Aligarh by a group of men.

Trouble began when a lab technician asked the men to leave a room so that he could collect the sample of a newly-wedded woman who was hesitating to remove her veil in front of them.

The incident took place in Saha Nagar Sarola village on Tuesday.

The health officials, who were in the village to collect samples for Covid testing, alleged that they were beaten up by the group of men who also destroyed samples collected by the team members and tore their register containing records.

An FIR against six persons, five of them unnamed, has been registered at Tappal police station.

Rama Rao, the lab technician, said that the newly-wedded woman was not lifting her veil as there were men in the room. So he asked the elderly persons and youths in the room to move out for a while.

"This enraged them and they started beating us. Two Asha workers were also attacked," he said. Circle officer (CO) Khair, S.P. Singh, said that it was a case of misunderstanding.

"However, the locals should not have misbehaved with the health officials. The FIR has been registered on a complaint filed by Rama Rao."

Village head, Dushyant, said that he tried to resolve the issue but a large number of people had gathered there and they chased the health workers out of the village.

"What happened with the health workers was wrong. They were doing their duty. Action should be taken against those who created the ruckus," he said.