29 in judicial custody for attack on police officers
The Statesman | 23 September 2025The two senior IPS officers, of SP rank from the SPC and ADPC, had been deployed on law-and-order duty at Kotshila in the wake of the rail roko agitation in the Jungle Mahal area.
The agitators had squatted on the South Eastern Railway (SER) tracks to halt train movements. When police tried to disperse them, they hurled stones and bricks, injuring five officers.
Abhijit Banerjee, superintendent of police, Purulia, said that following the attack, Kotshila police station registered a case and so far 29 people have been arrested for obstructing government officials in the discharge of their duties and causing injury. “Further raids will continue and the attackers are being identified through local CCTV and other video footage from that day,” he added.
The Adivasi Kurmi Samaj has alleged police high-handedness during the rail roko and announced that on 5 October it will hold an “anti-terror” meeting at the Taxi Stand in Purulia town, where a mass memorandum will be submitted to the SP and the district magistrate.
Normality has since been restored at Kotshila railway station under the Adra Division of SER after state police intervention. Those arrested include villagers from Jiudaru and Choyadih. Of them, twenty-one are residents of Kotshila, two are from Arsha, five from Joypur and one from Tulin in Jhalda, Purulia.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has condemned the police lathi-charge on what he described as the Kurmi Samaj’s peaceful protest at Kotshila, stating that citizens have the right to organise democratic movements on any issue.
Former state minister Shantiram Mahato, however, accused the BJP of attempting to disturb the peace in Junglemahal by supporting such movements, which, he said, caused severe inconvenience to thousands of railway passengers that day.
