At least four people, including a policeman and two journalists, were injured after police fired blank shots to disperse a crowd trying to snatch a man accused in an attempted rape case in Chattogram city on Thursday night.

The incident took place in the Chairmanghata area of Bakalia.

According to police and locals, Monir Hossain, 35, an employee of a decoration shop in the area, allegedly attempted to rape a four-year-old girl after taking her inside the shop. 

As news of the incident spread, angry locals took to the streets and staged protests in the evening.

Police later arrived at the scene and detained the accused. However, while taking him to the police station, an agitated crowd blocked the police vehicle and demanded that he be handed over to them.

The protesters also set fire to a police vehicle, damaging it completely.

At one stage, police fired blank shots to bring the situation under control, leaving four people injured, including two journalists and a constable.

The injured journalists were identified as Mamun Abdullah and Nobel Hasan.

According to journalists present at the scene, Mamun was hit in the waist and Nobel in the hand and leg by bullets while they were livestreaming on Facebook.

They were first taken to Chattogram General Hospital and later shifted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.

Officer-in-Charge of Bakalia Police Station Mohammad Solaiman said the situation was brought under control around 11:30pm and the accused was taken into custody.

The child was sent to hospital for a medical examination, he said.