Demanding CBI inquiry into the death of a minor girl, a rampaging mob of protesters torched the barracks and offices at the Kaliyaganj Police Station in North Dinajpur district this afternoon.

Furniture and documents in some rooms in the police station were completely damaged, along with some cars and motorcycles.

Advertisement

While the post-mortem report of the girl showed that she had died after consuming poison, the protesters have been saying that the girl was killed by the youth with whom she had a love affair.

The protesters today hurled stones at the police, while the men in uniform had to resort to baton-charge. At least 45 persons, including 32 police personnel, were injured in the clash, sources said. The injured policemen are undergoing treatment in the Raiganj Government Medical College & Hospital. Police later said they have detained some protesters.

The police had recovered the body of the class-XII school girl from a pond at Gangoa village in Kaliyaganj on Friday. As the villagers protested the death, they later also protested the way the police had “dragged” the body of the girl away from the mob.

Protesting the incident and slamming the post-mortem report, BJP activists gheraoed the office of the Superintendent of Police of the Raiganj Police District this afternoon. At the same time, hundreds of protesting people, most of them belonging to the tribal and Rajbanshi communities, also marched to the police station, demanding CBI enquiry. They latter were supposed to hand over a memorandum at the police station. Police, however, stopped the marchers near police station, even as the irate mob broke the barriers and tried to enter the police station.

“When police chased them, they started hurling stones at the police. In response, police had to resort to lathicharge. The agitators then broke the boundary wall and entered the police station and torched some rooms there. After being informed, fire engines reached the spot and doused the flames,” a source said.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has, meanwhile called for a 12-hour student strike in North Dinajpur district on Wednesday, demanding CBI enquiry into the death of the girl. The Left Front Committee of North Dinajpur also met the Superintendent of Police this afternoon and demanded judicial investigations.The Convenor of the North Dinajpur Left Front Committee, Anowarul Hoque, said, “We feel that both the CID and the CBI are acting for the TMC and BJP, respectively. As such, we demand judicial investigations.”

The Superintendent of Police of the Raiganj Police District, Sana Akhtar, said, “Some policemen were injured in stone pelting. We have started investigations to nab the persons who attacked the police station.”