Guatemala City, Jan 6 (EFE).– Three officers of Guatemala’s PNC national police are being held hostage at an indigenous community in the western province of Solola, where locals burned two patrol cars during disturbances sparked by the slaying of a resident by an off-duty cop, authorities said Tuesday.

A PNC spokesperson told EFE that talks were begun on Tuesday in an attempt to have the indigenous villagers free the three officers.

Taking part in the negotiations are representatives of the provincial government and of the Presidential Human Rights Commission, the spokesperson said.

The disturbances broke out around 11:30 p.m. Monday in the municipality of Santiago Atitlan, at some 170 kilometers (106 miles) west of the Guatemalan capital, after the killing of a store employee.

The victim, identified as Jose Elias Chumil, 28, was shot and killed by police who found him resting and suspected him of being drunk.

Villagers numbering some 4,000 demand that the as yet unidentified person responsible for shooting Chumil be handed over to local judicial authorities.

The names of the three cops being held captive by the Indian community have not been made public. EFE