Residents of Pradhanpara near here attacked police who had arrived on Sunday night to select a spot to conduct the last rites of a patient with suspected symptoms of Covid-19.

At least 20 policemen were injured and their four vehicles and an excavator were ransacked and torched. The police had to retreat and on Monday early morning, the deceased was buried at an undisclosed location.

Later in the day, Alipurduar district health officials said the patient had tested negative for the novel coronavirus .

Sources said Haider Ali, 60, had been admitted to the Covid-19 Hospital in Tapsikhata around 3.30pm on Sunday. He was having fever and breathing problems.

Doctors collected his swab samples and sent the same for tests. Ali’s condition deteriorated soon and he died. “The body was disinfected twice, packed and handed over to police late in the evening for last rites,” said a source in the administration.

The police decided to bury the body on the bank of the Buri Torsha, a stream flowing through Pradhanpara, which is around 35km from here and close to the Jaldapara National Park.

Around 9.30pm, police vehicles, along with an excavator, reached Pradhanpara. The local people said a suspected coronavirus patient could not be buried there and raised protests. The police were hit with stones and reinforcements reached the spot.

But the mob swelled and ransacked and torched police vehicles.

The police, the locals alleged, fired in air. A constable has been admitted to a private nursing home in Siliguri with serious injuries.

“We had unanimously decided that we would not allow the last rites of Covid patients. The administration should have spoken to us earlier,” said Ganapati Karjee, the deputy of Salkumarhat 1 panchayat, under which Pradhannagar is located.

Amitabha Maity, the Alipurduar district police chief, said: “It is an unfortunate incident. In total, 21 police personnel were injured and 13 of them are under treatment at different hospitals. A constable is in a critical condition. We suspect somebody instigated the locals. We are trying to identify the attackers.”