The village of Folimari in Lalmonirhat, rocked by violent clashes between the police and locals, appeared deserted on Wednesday after male inhabitants of the area went into hiding following the filing of a case against 300 to 400 unidentified people over the violence a day earlier.

A separate case was also filed by the victim’s family over the rape and murder of a seven-year-old child in the village following the arrest of a suspect.

A Lalmonirhat court sent the prime accused, Bidhan Chandra Roy, to jail after his confessional statement.

Tuesday’s violence, that left the Lalmonirhat superintendent of police and the Aditmari police station officer-in-charge injured and police cars vandalised, was allegedly triggered by police negligence, with the officer-in-charge refusing to record a general dairy after the child had gone missing on Monday.

‘We are fleeing because the police came to our house at night,’ said Anarul Islam, a resident of Folimari village.

Anarul’s wife, Julekha Begum, said, ‘We are terrified because the police are roaming around during the day.’

Anil Chandra of that village said, ‘We left the village in fear of arrest. The children at home are also in fear. We don’t know what to do now.’

Asaduzzaman said that, to avoid any further untoward situation, an additional number of police personnel had been deployed in the village and surrounding areas, including the victim’s house.

Responding to a question, he said that no innocent people would be arrested or harassed and only the identified suspects in the attack on the police would be arrested.

A Lalmonirhat court sent the prime accused in the rape and murder case, Bidhan Chandra Roy, to jail after recording his confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

On early Wednesday, the victim’s father filed a rape and murder case against Bidhan, his father Ronjit Kumar and mother Momota Rani with the Aditmari police station while the police filed a separate case for attacking police officials, vandalising vehicles and obstructing police action against 300 to 400 unidentified individuals.

Asaduzzaman said that those involved in the attack were being identified through analysing video footage and other information from the scene.

No kind of ‘mob attack’ or taking the law into one’s own hands will be tolerated, he warned.

He said that the situation in the area was currently calm and under control.

A day after the child went missing, local people on Tuesday morning discovered the child’s body wrapped in a sack and buried underground in a corn field near the victim’s house.

Angry villagers marched towards the house of the prime suspect and set it on fire, reducing several rooms and household belongings to ashes.

Aditmari police station officer-in-charge Nazmul Haque was withdrawn on Tuesday and attached to the police lines for negligence following allegations that he refused to file a general diary over the missing child hours after she had gone missing.