A young man, allegedly having an extramarital affair, was found hanging in Pandaveswar of West Burdwan on Thursday, triggering tension to the point that cops, including a deputy commissioner, suffered injuries.

In the morning, Pallab Bauri, 22, from Bauri Para was found hanging from a house in nearby Ruidas Para of Kumardihi village of Pandaveswar. Police recovered the body and took it to the police station.

Tension erupted after the body was taken away, allegedly without informing the family.

Local sources said that the deceased youth had an affair with a married woman from the neighbourhood and had gone to her home secretly at night. When the woman's husband discovered him, he locked the young man inside the house. After a while, Bauri's hanging body was recovered from the house.

"The police were apparently trying to suppress something, which is why the body was whisked away without adequate information to the family. This became a neighbourhood versus neighbourhood issue and will take effort and time to resolve," said a local source.

As the news of the incident spread, an irate mob ransacked several houses and shops, vandalised cycles and motorcycles and hurled brickbats at the police.

DC (East) Gupta of the Durgapur police commissionerate and some other police personnel were injured by brickbats after which the police allegedly caned the crowd to disperse it.

A larger police contingent from nearby police stations reached the spot to prevent violence from escalating further.

"It could have been worse. The police acted promptly to avert a more untoward situation," said a bystander.

Police have arrested several people after regaining control of the situation. But the area remains on the boil.

Gupta later said: "There was tension over the recovery of one person's body. We recovered the body and took it to the hospital. There, the doctors declared him dead."

"The family's grievances will definitely be heard. Four police personnel were injured while trying to control the tension. Necessary measures have been taken," he added.