Guwahati: An indefinite curfew was clamped and shoot-at-sight orders issued Saturday after three people were killed and 40 others wounded in Assam after security forces opened fire at mob that set ablaze a police station, officials said.
A police spokesman said about a thousand people went berserk at village Moirabari, about 90 km east from here, after police seized a motorbike and took a youth into custody.
"The mob attacked the police station and set it ablaze, prompting security forces to open fire in which three people were killed," a police official said. The dead include two children.
At least 25 people were injured in the firing and were shifted to hospitals.
The irate mob then set the police station on fire, besides setting ablaze several police vehicles and a few residences housing security forces.
"About 15 policemen were injured in attacks by the mob. The condition of at least three of them is stated to be critical," the official said.
Witnesses said a few youths informed students of a local college about the police taking into custody one of their colleagues who had earlier injured a man in a road accident.
"Hundreds of college students marched to the police station seeking the youth's release. Their numbers swelled with hundreds of locals joining them. Initially there were heated arguments. But after some time police opened fire in the air," Nur Mohammed, a businessman, said over telephone.
The mob then set the police station ablaze forcing the security forces to open fire.
"The crowd roughed up several policemen severely," said another witness, Habib Ali. Additional police and paramilitary reinforcements have been rushed to the village.
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