Armed police laid siege to the Enga provincial headquarters in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday in a protest over unpaid allowances.
The Post Courier newspaper says the public servants were left in a state of panic, shock and confusion as fully armed police took over the centre at Wabag.
Six members of the Enga mobile squad, carrying guns, walked into the offices at 11 am, demanding access to all the offices.
They then lockedup the staff for two hours.
The paper reports that the provincial law and order adviser and the provincial administrator were threatened at gunpoint and ordered to release money the police said they were owed after working during the national elections last year.
The men were reportedly not paid and the paper says it is not clear how the situation was defused.
