Senior district and police officials here on Tuesday took refuge in a residential colony after a mob attacked them and set fire to many vehicles, authorities said.

Members of the "Bheem Army" went on a violent spree after the police tried to clear a park of protestors as they did not have official permission for the demonstration.

All hell broke loose thereafter as the mob targeted police and other vehicles passing by, creating panic, witnesses said.

More than a dozen motorcycles belonging to the media and police were set on fire. The mob also torched a police outpost and a police van.

Senior officials including Additional District Magistrate S.K. Dubey, City Magistrate Harish Chandra and senior police officers ran and sought shelter in a residential colony to escape the wrath of the mob.

District Magistrate N.P. Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash Chandra Dubey rushed to the scene of violence with reinforcements and took control of the situation, officials said.

A Home Department official said the situation was tense but under control.

The "Bheem Army" had been staging a sit-in in protest ever since clashes last week between Dalits and Thakurs left one person dead and over two dozen injured.