Jobless SSC teachers lay siege to Bikash Bhavan for 10 hours, clash with police
Times of India | 16 May 2025
12 Kolkata: Several jobless teachers and cops were injured in a clash between protesting SSC teachers and police in front of Bikash Bhavan on Thursday. While police resorted to large-scale lathi-charge to remove the protesting teachers, the latter hit back with flowerpots and brickbats.The teachers had gheraoed the education department headquarters since noon. Even after 6 pm, they blocked govt employees from leaving office — some employees were stuck inside till 9 pm. The situation took a turn for the worse when an employee, desperate to go home to attend to her ailing mother, was injured while trying to jump from the first-floor parapet. Cops then started lathi charge to remove the protesters.The teachers said 50 of them were injured, some sustaining head wounds and leg fractures. They said cops kicked them, hit them with helmets, and had even torn the clothes of some woman teachers. Police said multiple personnel, including women, were hit. Some police personnel also had head and — at least in one case — eye injuries. The clashes continued till 10 pm.When several hundred protesting teachers gheraoed Bikash Bhawan gherao around noon, they said they will not appear for any fresh selection test. They questioned why Bikash Bhawan has kept them in the dark on the new selection process. Around 1 pm, the teachers tried to barge into Bikash Bhawan, breaking the iron gates and the doors when held back by a huge police contingent, including RAF. Earlier, Bidhannagar municipality chairperson Sabyasachi Dutta and his aides were caught in a row with the teachers. After being subjected to a "thief" slur by the protesters, Dutta threatened them. It was alleged that his aides also shoved some teachers.Mehboob Mandal, said, "Police attacked unarmed teachers who were in peaceful protest."DCP Bidhannagar Aneesh Sarkar said, "Since morning, multiple attempts were made to reason with the protesters. In the evening, they tried to block state employees from leaving office, despite several being women and elderly. When the protestors were being removed, they attacked police."(Inputs by Tamaghna Banerjee)