Balangir: The official, who was forced to do sit-ups by MLA Saroj Kumar Meher in Patnagarh area for poor quality road work, was rescued by police after allegedly being abducted.

The Patnagarh police rescued Jaykant Sabar, the Junior Engineer in Public Works Department (PWD), from Kantabanji area following complaint.

Yesterday, his wife had lodged a complaint with Patnagarh police alleging his husband was kidnapped by the MLA and his supporters from her home on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Patnagarh legislator has been booked after a video clip was aired on electronic media showing him forcing Sabar to do sit-ups in public over poor road construction work in his area. In the video, Meher was also seen threatening the engineer if he refused to do 100 sit-ups.

Balangir District Collector Arvind Dakua has asked the Patnagarh SDPO to look into the matter to ascertain the truth behind the incident.

After the sit-ups video went viral on several news channels, Meher tendered an apology for his unruly behaviour.