Pratapgarh (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 2 (IANS): A mob attacked a police team and even chased them for more than one kilometre when they were taking an accused in a theft case from his house in the Pratapgarh's Bardait Singhaur village.

Three policemen had a narrow escape and they had to run from the spot to save their lives. The accused in their custody managed to escape.

Circle Officer (City) Abhay Pandey told reporters that a case under appropriate sections has been registered against the accused and other people involved in the incident.

He added that separate police teams have also been formed to catch the persons who had allegedly attacked the police party and chased them.

According to the police, a resident of Sagra Kotwali had lodged a complaint accusing a labourer of stealing four mobiles, cash and other valuables from his office.

The house owner told police that the labourer was assigned to dig a pit near an under-construction house to erect a pillar. He left his house for some work and found locks broken on returning.

Acting upon the complaint, a police team led by police outpost in-charge reached Bardait village and caught a man identified as Sonu on the charges of theft on Tuesday.

The wife of the accused raised an alarm and villagers, armed with sticks, came out from their houses and manhandled the police team.

The policemen started running from the spot and the villagers allegedly chased them for more than a kilometre. Following this, forces of three police stations, including Kotwali, Lalganj and Jethwara rushed to the spot and carried out a search operation.