Eight construction workers from Bengal were reportedly stripped, beaten up mercilessly and paraded through the streets of Sundargarh town in western Odisha on Thursday after one of them was accused of misbehaving with a woman.

The incident took place in the Mission Road area of the town which is around 98km from Rourkela.

Sources said that the mob of angry locals also tied up the hands of the eight workers who hail from Murshidabad district of Bengal.

Sundargarh superintendent of police Pratyush Diwakar told The Telegraph that the mob tried to punish the workers, who had arrived in the area recently, by removing their clothes. “They were made to walk in their undergarments. The mob took them for Bangladeshi nationals though they hail from Murshidabad in Bengal. A police team reached the spot after getting the news and rescued them. Efforts are on to arrest the accused,” said Diwakar.

The officer said that the allegation of one of the workers having misbehaved with a local woman was being verified. The police refused to reveal the names of either the workers or the woman concerned.

Sources said there was outrage in the area after a woman accused one of the workers of forcibly entering her house and misbehaving with her. As she raised an alarm her neighbours, mostly belonging to her community, gathered at the spot and caught hold of the accused. They also managed to round up seven of his colleagues, tied their hands and paraded them on the streets after removing their clothes.