An angry mob on Wednesday beat up eight policemen and set their vehicle on fire after a school boy died after being hit allegedly by it at Bhatar in Burdwan district, prompting police to fire in the air to disperse the agitators.
Sumanta Mallick, a class VI student of the Bhatar Boys
School, about 20 km from Burdwan, was returning home from school when a police vehicle hit him, leading to his death.
Immediately after the incident, people gathered at the spot and started beating the eight policemen, who were in the vehicle. The mob later set the vehicle on fire.
Additional police force was rushed to the spot to rescue the policemen but the mob refused to hand over them, police said.
The police resorted to lathicharge and then fired in the air to disperse the irate mob. They then rescue the eight injured policemen, they said.
However, Superintendent of Police R Rajsekharan claimed that Sumanta was not hit by the police vehicle and it was just a rumour which led to the violence.
Unofficial sources said a large number of people were injured in police lathicharge but when contacted Rajsekharan said he has no information about anybody injured in the lathicharge.