Mail News Service
Kharagpur, June 11: An attempt by certain political outfits to gherao the official residence of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Kharagpur, was foiled today by the prompt and timely intervention of law enforcement authorities of the Railways. The illegal and unauthorised protest, which started around 8 am on Wednesday, was organized in opposition to the recent anti-encroachment drive undertaken by the Railways in and around railway land in Kharagpur.
The agitators, who had not taken any prior permission to hold the demonstration, assembled near the road towards the SERSA Stadium in an attempt to create pressure and stall the legally mandated clearance drive. The agitators failed to gather the support of the locals in their illegal actions. Security personnel of RPF were present at the location and ensured that the situation remained under control. The DRM’s residence remained secure, and no disruption was caused to railway operations or administrative functioning. However, they blocked the railway colony roads — the 6 th Avenue Road near SERSA Stadium and Officer’s Club — causing great inconvenience to Railway Colonies’ bonafide users and tried to create an environment of panic and fear. Further, the unruly mob tried to stop the DRM from going to the office by blocking the way in front of his official vehicle and created ruckus by shouting and preventing the on duty RPF officials from performing their duties. In the process, 3 RPF officials including 1 ASI and 2 lady constables were injured on duty and were admitted to the Railway Hospital. Necessary legal action is being initiated against the hooligans.
Though, timely intimation was given officially to DM/Medinipur & SP/Medinipur to take preventive measures, but no appropriate action was taken by the state police in time. Finally, around 11 state police officials arrived at the site at around 10.45 am, i.e. about 2 hours after the start of the illegal agitation.
The Railway had appealed to the general public through a press meet a few days ago, with proper facts and figures, to not fall prey to the malafide intentions of some politically driven individuals, and the same was responded positively by the residents of Kharagpur. Though, the agitators initially claimed in their press conference that around 1500 affected Basti residents would participate in this blockade. However, only around 150 people turned up, that included the members of a certain political outfit and few residents of far-flung areas who were not directly linked with the issue.
The South Eastern Railway emphasized that the ongoing anti-encroachment drive was being conducted strictly in accordance with railway rules and under the directives of higher authorities, with the sole purpose of protecting public land and ensuring safety of railway operations. Encroachments on railway property posed serious risks to infrastructure, personnel, and passengers, and could not be allowed to persist. The railway administration once again appealed to the residents not to support such illegal actions and encroachments.
