Armed police disperse the protesting crowd. Picture by Saroj Sinha

Hemtabad (North Dinajpur), Aug. 4: One person was killed and seven injured ?four of them critically ? as police opened fire to quell a mob protesting against the murder and alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl here this morning.

The Congress has called a 12-hour bandh tomorrow at Hemtabad and Raiganj, while the BJP and the SUCI have also announced a 24-hour strike in the district.

The body of the 14-year-old girl was recovered from a field in Thakurbari on Tuesday evening. Her father, Nilkanta Das, lodged an FIR, alleging that his daughter was gangraped and then murdered.

The agitation started brewing yesterday when residents demanded that the police should give them a copy of the post-mortem report before allowing the body to be cremated. As they continued their demand, around 300 people, led by Shyamal Pal, an influential person in the area, blocked the Raiganj-Hili state highway at 9.30 in the morning.

Around 11 am, the additional police superintendent, Subrata Banerjee, and subdivisional officer Khagendranath Dew went to meet the agitators, asking them to lift the blockade. Assured that the post-mortem report would be handed over to them, Pal announced that they would withdraw their protest. However, when the crowd refused to budge, 20 armed policemen accompanying the officials, resorted to lathicharge, forcing them away from the road.

All hell broke loose around 11.40 am. The crowd began pelting stones at the officers and the police who lobbed eight tear-gas shells in retaliation. The crowd then wrecked two police jeeps and tried to set one ablaze. The police then fired eight rounds in the air, reportedly ordered by their officer.

The crowd, which had gone berserk by now, kept hurling stones at the police. One of the missiles hit inspector-in-charge of Raiganj Pradip Chakrabarty in his eye, while Dew got injured in his head. The officer-in-charge of Hemtabad police station was also not spared. Two scribes and a television channel cameraman were also injured.

To quell the violent crowd, the SDO and the ASP ordered the policemen to open fire. The Rapid Action Force jawans also started firing. A protester, who had come on the middle of the road, got shot through the head. Eight others were also shot at.

The mob also torched the house of Hiru Mohammed, an accused of the murder.

Inspector-general of north Bengal K.L. Meena reached the site along with the BSF?s Fourth Battalion to rein in the situation.

Later, district magistrate Manish Jain gave the victim?s father a copy of the post-mortem report, which stated that she had not been raped.

?We will ask the relatives of the injured to come to the hospital. We are inquiring about the firing and 10 persons have been arrested,? Meena said.

With police beefing up security measures, all male members have fled the villages.