Kolkata: A group of hawkers lynched a constable of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), following a pitched battle inside the Malda Town station in West Bengal.
The clashes began after a hawker was allegedly beaten up by four RPF officers.
Hawkers had been barred from selling their wares near railway platforms especially after the initiation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (clean India campaign).
According to witnesses, on Monday evening, hawker Subal Ghosh was found selling roti-sabzi (Indian bread and vegetables) at the platform, when the RPF constables reportedly pounced on him and forced him to leave.
The hawkers union’ alleges that the RPF men hit Ghosh with the butt of a rifle on his head and he had to be admitted to the Malda District Hospital with serious injuries.
“We are being regularly harassed by RPF men. They take bribe from us to let us sell our wares. They beat Ghosh as he refused to pay bribe,” said Sambit Pal, a hawker.
As the news of the attack spread, hawkers and locals gathered at the RPF office at the station, and started throwing stones. Soon the RPF men were outnumbered and they opened fire in the air to disperse the crowd.
The crowd, however, besieged the camp and managed to take Constable Samarendra Samanta. They allegedly began to beat him up with sticks and bricks. The RPF officers fired 17 rounds in the air to disperse the mob but failed. Samanta died on the spot.
The situation came under control, only when a large contingent of West Bengal Police officers arrived to aid the RPF men.
“My men were trying to implement the rules of the railways on vending at the platforms as per the directives issued by the authorities. During the attack, the hawkers ransacked and demolished the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation outlet at the station,” S.S. Tiwari, a RPF commandant said.
However, the incident rattled passengers.
“If hawkers have the audacity to kill a RPF constable and ransack government property, tomorrow they could kill passengers as we often get in a quarrel over prices of their wares. Also they were on the railway platform and they are bound to follow the rules. Railways should bar all hawkers from all railway station and its vicinity,” said Anil Gupta, a commuter.
RPF officials also expressed their concern over the situation. “If men had to die to enforce a simple rule then it will get difficult for us to enforce security of the platforms, we have informed the state government and are trying to identify the main culprits and initiate legal action against them,” said a RPF official.
