Three policemen were injured when a mob went berserk at a police station pelting stones and setting ablaze parked vehicles, prompting police to fire several rounds in the air at Dhola Haat in South 24 Parganas district this evening.
A senior district police officer said the mob went on a rampage when the policemen tried to pacify them during a demonstration seeking arrest of 10 persons, accused in a recent case of murder of a businessman in the area.
As stones rained on the police station compound, three police personnel, including the Officer-in-Charge, were injured, the officer said.
Senior officers present at the police station ordered blank firing to quell the crowd which in the meantime torched a jeep and a motorcycle parked in the compound, the officer said.
Villagers claimed that one Motin Laskar died in the firing and at least eight others were injured as policemen fired at the direction of the mob.
The senior police officer denied the claim about any injury or casualty among the civilians.
Additional SP Chandrasekhar Bardhan went to the area with a big force as the situation remained tense but under control.
Police were conducting midnight raids in the area as male members of households were leaving the village, locals said.
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