A village in Lalmonirhat’s Aditmari upazila turned into a virtual battlefield on Tuesday as enraged residents clashed violently with law enforcers over the alleged rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl.

The intense clash left at least 20 people injured, including the district’s Superintendent of Police (SP) and an Officer-in-Charge (OC).

The violence erupted after police refused to hand over the prime suspect to the agitated crowd. Following the unrest, seven vehicles were vandalized, and the local OC was subsequently withdrawn from his post.

The victim, identified as seven-year-old Nandini Kanto Roy, was the daughter of Nalini Kanto of Folimari village under Bhelabari union. Nandini had gone missing on Monday afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, local residents spotted freshly disturbed, muddy soil in a nearby maize field. Upon digging up the spot, they discovered the child's body stuffed inside a sack.

Being informed of the grim discovery, police recovered the body and dispatched it to the Lalmonirhat Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Local suspicion quickly fell on 22-year-old Bidhan Chandra Roy, son of Ranjit Kumar Roy from the same village.

The suspicion intensified after a local resident reported seeing Bidhan returning from the maize field carrying a spade on Monday evening.

Driven by anger, agitated villagers swooped on Bidhan’s house and vandalized the property while he was still inside.

Police personnel present at the scene intervened, taking Bidhan into their custody to protect him and ensure legal procedures.

The situation escalated rapidly when the locals demanded that police hand Bidhan over to them for immediate, vigilante punishment.

When the law enforcers refused to comply with the crowd's demands, the protesters besieged the police team and launched an attack.

In response, police swung into action to defend themselves and control the crowd, triggering a violent clash.

The area witnessed continuous chases and counter-chases for nearly three hours before order could be restored.

With Inputs from UNB