Roing, the district headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley in frontier Arunachal Pradesh, remained tense on Saturday following the lynching of a teenager on Friday afternoon.

The deceased was accused of molesting several minor girls, aged between five and seven, at a private school.

Sources said additional forces had been deployed to prevent any untoward incidents.

A police officer told The Telegraph on Saturday evening that a curfew was imposed soon after the incident on Friday afternoon. “The situation is tense but under control. We have mobilised security personnel from adjoining districts. Two FIRs have been lodged in connection with the molestation case. We have reports of seven girls, aged between six and nine years. They were staying in the school hostel."

The 19-year-old accused, reportedly a migrant worker from Lower Assam’s Bongaigaon district, had been arrested and detained at the Roing police station on Thursday after a complaint was lodged by the family of one of the victims. A case had been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

According to reports, as news of the alleged molestation spread, a large mob gathered outside the police station, forcibly dragged the youth and brutally assaulted him before reinforcements could arrive. He was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

A local BJP leader told a news portal on Friday that the crowd was “quite large” and “uncontrollable,” and that the youth was in “critical condition” by the time additional forces reached the site.

The teenager was reportedly working at a construction site near the school hostel. All the victim girls were boarders. The school authorities will also come under the purview of the investigation, sources said.