Five people were injured, one of them critically, when police opened fire on a mob at Binnaguri in the north Bengal district of Jalpaiguri, more than 500 kms away from Kolkata.

The incident took place between 2:30 and 3:00 on Sunday night, when a police team detected a gambling den in an area under the jurisdiction of Banarhat police station.

"When the police objected they were attacked by the locals and police had to fire," said Daniel Tshering Lepcha, DIG, Jalpaiguri range.

Though Lepcha claimed police resorted to blank firing, he admitted to five people being injured.

The one critically injured has been admitted to North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri. The other four, one of whom is a woman, has been admitted to Jalpaiguri Sadar hospital.

"Ten policemen, including an inspector Subol Chandra Roy, were injured in the mob attack," said Lepcha.

The situation is tense and superintendent of police, Jalpaiguri district, is camping in the area.