Large-scale violence rocked Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district for hours on end on Tuesday afternoon with protesters and police fighting a pitched battle on the streets of Kaliagunj municipality area which led to significant number of injuries on both sides and turned the region into a virtual battle zone.

An angry mob set fire to the Kaliaganj police station to protest the death of a teenage girl whose body was found in a canal last week. It took the administration more than three hours to bring the blaze under control. Tuesday’s violence gained momentum after protestors, reportedly belonging to the local Kamtapuri and Rajbangshi communities, organized a "thana gherao" programme against alleged “police inaction" in the case.

This was the fifth consecutive day and, by far, the most violent law and order breakdown in the region since the crime came to light last Friday.

Protesters, who assembled in great numbers, breached the barricades put up by the police to stop their march to the police station and incessantly brick-batted the security forces who were hopelessly outnumbered by the advancing crowd. Broken glass bottles and stones also provided ammunition for the mob which were used as missiles against the police.

Despite police lathi-charging the protesters, they were unable to stop the mob from entering the police station and setting it ablaze.

Pitched battle was fought between police and protestors on the streets of Kaliganj on Tuesday The Telegraph Online

The narrow lanes and by-lanes of Kaliagunj town provided cover to the protestors who used them to their advantage to target the police, an eyewitness said. Rooftops of local houses were used by the protestors to brickbat the police, it was learnt.

Police, accompanied by state Rapid Action and Combat forces, also resorted to bursting of tear gas shells, firing rubber bullets and even lobbing hand grenades to disperse the crowd. However, till reports last received, the ground situation remained extremely volatile with police reinforcements from neighbouring Islampur and Raigunj being pushed to the violence zone. Over 30 policemen were injured in the day’s violence, four of them seriously and were admitted to the Raigunj Medical College and Hospital.

No injury figures were received from the side of the protestors till the time this report was filed.

Injured police personnel escorted out of Kaliaganj battle zone by colleagues The Telegraph Online

The rioters reportedly also torched vehicles parked in front of the police station and ransacked local establishments.

On 21 April, the body of the 17-year-old girl was found floating in a canal in Kaliaganj. Alleging that she was raped and killed, local residents had blocked roads by burning tyres. They set several shops on fire. The area had witnessed repeated unrest over the last five days especially after videos of police dragging away the body of the victim in desperation to escape an angry crowd went viral on social media.

The victim’s final autopsy report revealed no external injury on her body and ascertained poisoning as the cause of her death.