A police officer in North 24-Parganas has been arrested on the charge of molesting two girls of Class XI in an empty classroom during a cultural programme at their school.

The assistant sub-inspector, Jahangir Hossain, was rescued by the police after he was beaten and locked up in a classroom by villagers in Haroa after the girls confided in their parents about the harassment. A departmental inquiry has been started against Hossain.

The angry villagers also set ablaze two motorbikes of policemen on law-and-order duty in the area and attacked the cops, forcing them to run away.

When a bigger contingent arrived, the villagers hurled stones at the force and also assaulted them. “We had to resort to a lathicharge and only then could we rescue the officer,” said a police source.

The officer said Hossain has been booked for attempted rape. He will be produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Basirhat on Sunday. Source said the girls had recorded their statement before the police.

The superintendent of police, Basirhat police district, Kankar Prasad Barui, did not respond to calls. He said in reply to a text message: “Necessary departmental and legal action will be taken as per the law and rules.”

A teacher of the school said: “This is horrifying. If a policeman can do such things, people will lose faith in the force. Though the violence that followed was not right, it was a natural outpouring of people’s anger.”