Araria (Bihar), May 18 (PTI) Nineteen people were arrested in connection with arson at a police station in Bihar's Araria district over the custodial death of a man and a girl, an official statement said on Saturday.

According to the statement issued by the district police, the SHO of the Tarabari Police Station and three other officials were suspended in connection with the custodial death on Thursday.

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A mob ransacked the police station, set its properties on fire and hurled stones targetting the policemen, alleging that the man and "his underage wife", died after being beaten up by police in custody. During the violence, four police personnel were injured.

The protesters allegedly fired, injuring three civilians, a district police officer said.

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The police claimed that the duo died by suicide by hanging themselves in the lockup at the police station.

“The police have so far arrested 19 people on the charges of violence and arson at Talabari Police station in Araria," the statement said.

All arrests have been made based on the CCTV footage, it said.

They were protesting against the death of Mitthu Singh (40) and a minor girl inside the police station at Tarabari.

The police had to resort to baton-charge and opened fire in the air to disperse the mob, the statement said.

Injured have been admitted to a hospital and their condition is reported to be out of danger, it said.

Locals claimed that the man had lost his wife a year back and married his late wife's 14-year-old sister a few days ago, but the duo were detained by the police on Thursday afternoon.

The police claimed that the man and the girl were detained on the basis of complaints filed by their parents.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)