A team of researchers from Lucknow mistaken as surveyors for the National Register of Citizens exercise was caught by residents of a village in Darbhanga, Bihar, and handed over to the police, a senior official said on Sunday.

Superintendent of police, Darbhanga, Babu Ram said the incident took place on Friday when the team, comprising 12 people, including four women, visited a village under Jamalpur police station area.

The team was from a Lucknow-based research organisation, which was engaged by a US-based PhD scholar.

However, as they began visiting households and collecting information, the word spread that 'NRC surveyors' had arrived following which villagers grew furious and held them hostage for some time before dragging them to the police station.

The situation was defused at the police station where officials verified the identities of the researchers and explained the fact to the villagers, who then went back satisfied, the SP said.

He, however, added that similar incidents have taken place in the district in recent past and an awareness campaign has been launched as part of which residents are being told to 'inform the police or local administrative officials' if any surveyors in their area aroused suspicion 'instead of illegally detaining them'.

With the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) spreading in different parts of Bihar, people engaged in conducting surveys for private research and marketing companies are being mistakenly targeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) is an ally of the BJP, have been at pains to explain that the CAA would expedite grant of citizenship to refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, having fled religious persecution in their countries, without affecting Indians and that there was no move so far to bring in the nationwide NRC.

Opposition parties have, however, accused the NDA of misleading the people on the issue and pointed out that a country-wide NRC was mentioned in the BJPs manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.

The NRC had also found mention in President Ram Nath Kovinds address to a joint session of Parliament last year besides in Union home minister Amit Shahs speech when the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was being debated in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition parties said.