Driver Alauddin Khan, 45, was shot near Mitachhara Bazar as he defied the robbers' orders to stop his vehicle and allow them to flee on board it, police and witnesses said.

The trouble erupted when a robbery bid at the Bazar was foiled by shopkeepers and local people. As they were chasing the robbers, patrol police in two vans arrived at the spot.

The locals attacked police, set fire to a van and damaged another for their alleged inaction to nab the robbers. Police resorted to baton charge to disperse the mob.

The policemen injured in the incident are assistant sub-inspectors Abdur Rab and Abdul Aziz and constables Shahidul Islam and Abdul Matin.

Senior police official Abdul Khaleque said "Our patrol team came under attack of angry villagers when it was on an operation to foil a dacoity bid at Mitachhara Bazar". Ten people were arrested for the attack on police and additional police force was depolyed at the Bazar as tension rose high following the incident, he added.

But the arrest fuelled an agitation by angry villagers and they barricaded Dhaka -Chittagong highway at Panthapukur under Durgapur Union. Thousands of vehicles with homebound passengers on the eve of the Eid were stranded for nine hours till 4:00 pm yesterday, snapping road communication between Chittagong and other parts of the country.

They demanded immediate release of the arrested people.

Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Md Shafiqul Islam, Superintendent of Police Mahbubur Rahman and other senior officials rushed to the spot this noon but the agitators refused to lift the road barricade until release of the arrested.

Later, the barricades were withdrawn at 4:00 pm when a court released the arrested on bail.

Mohammad Kamal of Durgapur alleged that police clubbed the villagers indiscriminately while hunting for the attackers on police.

A local woman, Mariamnessa alleged police didn't spare even females and picked up some innocent people.