Kathmandu - Police officers in south-eastern Nepal went on strike accusing a politician and his supporters of assaulting and attempting to abduct their colleagues, media reports said Monday.

Officers stopped work across Dhanusa district, about 250 kilometres south-east of Kathmandu, as part of their protests, the independent Kantipur Televison said.

The report said two police officers were assaulted on Sunday night after they stopped Sanjaya Kumar Saha, local leader of ethnic Madhesi People's Rights Forum, for a routine check in the town of Janakpur.

The group then reportedly tried to abduct them, the television station quoted police inspector Bishworaj Thapa as saying.

The two officers of the crime investigation department were rescued by armed police stationed near-by.

The police officers on strike are demanding action against the politician and have threatened to extend their strike if the government remained indifferent.

Saha has denied the allegations describing it as a "deliberate and planned" attempt to tarnish his image.

Dhanusa districts lies in an area affected by low level insurgency where armed groups have frequently targeted police and government officers.

This is the third time police have been involved in protests in Nepal this year.

In August, armed police in three barracks in western Nepal seized their superior officers and held them hostages for several days demanding better rations and end to ill-treatment.

The mutiny ended after the government threatened to use force to deal with the situation. (dpa)