They also staged a demonstration on the Hathazari road, demanding punishment to the policemen involved in the incident.

The locals alleged that the police from the neighbouring Battali outpost and Bayezid Bostami Police Station recently raised the amount of tolls they illegally collect from the hawkers at the Baluchhara Bazar from Tk 50 to Tk 100 per head.

Yesterday's incident took place when the law enforcers, led by Sub-Inspector (SI) Mostaq Ahmad, and their source Kamal went to the market at around 10:00am and harassed and picked up vendors who refused to pay the increased toll, sources said.

A local restaurant owner said the cops tried to detain a respectable person of the locality, also owner of a store in the market, as he requested the lawmen not to harass the hawkers.

"Over 50 agitated hawkers and local people gathered and beat up Constable G Nabi and Kamal while the other cops fled the scene," he said.

Later, a large contingent of police rushed to the spot to rescue the constable and the informant and brought the situation under control, witnesses said.

The agitated people staged a demonstration on the road in protest against the police harassment, disrupting traffic for around 20 minutes, they said.

Asked about the incident, SI Mostaq told journalists that they went to the market "to evict the hawkers and an illegal rickshaw garage occupying both sides of the road".