The protest was against an accident that left a schoolboy dead. Around 11 am, a speeding coal-laden truck had run over 15-year-old Bubai Gorai.

Agitated locals set fire to the vehicle.

Soon after, when the police and the fire tenders arrived, “the mob attacked them with brickbats and set a police van and a fire tender afire,” said Bankura superintendent of police Rajesh Sinha.

The protesters and the police came to blows and six persons were injured in the ensuing scuffle.

The police then fired five rounds.

A vegetable vendor, Nimai Das, received bullet injuries in the stomach, Sinha said.

He said the police had first used batons, but that had failed to disperse the protestors.

“Our men did not target any one. They opened fire in the air. But Das was injured by a ricocheting bullet,” Sinha said.

The situation is now under control, but in view of the prevailing tension, a police picket has been posted at the site. No arrest has been made so far.

The locals vehemently criticised the police.