Crossword Genius

Strip of wood India put together for their police baton (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lathi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'police baton' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'strip of wood india put together' is the wordplay.
'strip of wood' becomes 'lath' (I've seen this in another clue).
'india' becomes 'i' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'put together' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'lath'+'i'='LATHI'

'for their' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lathi that I've seen before include "Heavy iron-bound stick used for crowd control by police in India" , "Long, heavy stick" , "club in India" , "instrument of punishment" , "may give wallop to dacoit" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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