Two days after they cane charged noted economist Jean Dreze and his colleagues, the Chhattisgarh police admitted Monday that they had mistakenly thought them to be Maoists.

Police headquarter sources said here that Saturday's attack on Delhi-based economist Dreze and his colleagues in Balrampur, 380 km from here, occurred due to "mistaken identity" as "their style of holding meetings with locals was similar to that of Maoist rebels".

The Belgian-born Dreze is a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Dreze, who sports a beard, became an Indian citizen in 2002. He is also an active member of the Right to Food Campaign, the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information, and the world-wide movement for peace and disarmament.

Chief Minister Raman Singh Sunday ordered the Balrampur superintendent of police Kalluri to "collect all details about the incident and take stern action against those responsible for assaulting the economist".

The People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), a well-known human rights group, called for a daylong sit-in Monday at Motibagh here to protest the police action.

Local police at Balrampur attacked a team of People's Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) led by Dreze while it was holding a meeting with locals. Dreze sustained minor injury to his right hand in the incident, which took place near the Chhattisgarh-Jharkhand border dominated by Maoist guerrillas.

The Balrampur district police chief Kalluri denied the cane charge allegation when the state home department sought details Sunday.

"Later Kalluri admitted that some local policemen had assaulted the economist and his colleagues, including some women workers, as they were seeking support in a style similar to Maoists," police sources told IANS.

The meeting was a part of the PAEG's Rozgar Yatra march to mobilise support for the central government's Employment Guarantee Act. The yatra will cover seven states.

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister and Congress Lok Sabha MP Ajit Jogi and senior party leader Mahendra Karma have sought a high-level probe into the matter.