Patna, March 22: The simmering anger of people against police came to the fore on Friday with mobs attacking cops in Gopalganj and West Champaran districts and damaging public property worth over Rs 50 lakh.

In Gopalganj, a group of residents of Pakrihar village, around 250km northwest from here, ransacked the Gopalpur police station and set on fire at least 20 motorbikes and its makeshift police barrack. At least three policemen suffered injuries after the people went berserk for their alleged inaction in an assault case.

Sources said the residents of Parihar village got agitated after one of the two youths, who were brutally beaten up by a group of residents of Shahpur village on March 8, succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Lucknow on Thursday night. The relatives of the deceased, identified as Baliram Sah, alleged that the police were hand-in-glove with the culprits, who were moving scot-free.

As the news of Ram’s death spread, a group of people assembled outside the police station this morning. The situation took a violent turn after the police tried to intervene.

In West Champaran, a group of residents demonstrated in front of Piprasi police station under Bagaha police district to press their demand for checking illegal sand mining. The protesters assaulted assistant sub-inspector Yugal Kishore Singh and pelted stones at the police station. The situation came under control after the acting station house officer, Maheshwar Sarhan, promised action against those involved in illegal sand mining.