An inspection by the officials of Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration Department at a sago unit went awry as they were locked up for six hours by a group of protesting unit owners on Wednesday night.

Acting on a tip-off about adulteration in sago products, a team led by District Designated Officer Mariappan had raided a sago unit owned by Raja at Kattukottai village on Wednesday night.

Thereafter, a group of sago unit owners arrived and locked up the officials inside their unit. The members of the sago unit’s welfare association also gathered in large numbers protesting against the raid being carried out during night hours.

With tension brewing, a police team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Pon Karthik Kumar and Revenue officials arrived and held talks with the protesting sago unit owners. While the owners raised doubts over carrying out an inspection at night hours, the food safety officials alleged that adulteration works are carried out mostly during the night hours.

The police managed to free the officials after six long hours at around 5 am on Thursday. Later, the sago unit owners resorted to a protest by parking tapioca-laden lorries in front of Attur Sub Collector’s office.

However, they withdrew the protest after talks arranged between Food Safety and Drug Administration Department officials and the sago unit owners at the Sub Collector’s office. However, no consensus was reached in the meet.