Two youths died on the spot after being hit by bullets and over a dozen were injured during the clash with police.

All the injured have been admitted to hospital.

"People clashed with police after pelting stones and torching some vehicles. Top police officials were rushed from neighbouring districts. Additional police personnel have also been deployed in the town," police spokesperson S.K. Bharadwaj said.

The situation in Madhubani was tense but under control, according to a Madhubani police official.

The trouble in the town started after a headless body was found 11 days ago. The family members of a missing youth, Prashant Kumar, claimed that the body was his and demanded that it be handed over to them.

Hundreds of people joined them. But when the police refused to give in to their demand, the mob started pelting stones and torched the collectorate building, SDM office, a police station and several vehicles parked there.

Police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the protestors, the police official said adding that two protestors were killed and a dozen others injured in the police action.

Madhubani MP Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav, of the Bharatiya Janata Party, blamed the local police and district administration for the entire incident. "It is the result of the total failure of police and local administration. They are responsible for it," he said.

The Bihar government has ordered an inquiry into the incident and transferred the district magistrate and superintendent of police with immediate affect, an official said.