Nov. 10: Tribals today forced police to free six youths and snapped the last road connecting Lalgarh to the rest of the state, but late tonight they offered to repair a state highway.
Around 6am, about 300 tribal youths with bows and arrows marched from Dahijuri in Binpur block to Betkundri and started digging up the metalled state highway connecting Midnapore town with Purulia’s Bandwan.
Around 8.30, a police contingent arrived at Betkundri, about 5km from Jhargram town and told the tribals, affiliated to the youth wing of Bharat Jakat Majhi Marwa, an outfit of village elders, to stop digging.
The villagers refused, following which the police arrested six youths on the charge of unlawful assembly and seized their weapons and drums. They were taken to Jhargram.
As news of the arrest spread, over 2,000 men and women, bows and arrows in hand, gathered at Dahijuri, about 8km from Jhargram town, and obstructed the highway demanding immediate release of the six. “The police torture us at the slightest pretext. The government thinks all Santhals are Maoists. Whenever there is a Maoist attack, the Santhals are picked up,” said protester Priya Tudu.
The angry, slogan-shouting villagers circled the contingent and hurled abuses. Some women reportedly pushed the policemen but the force did not react, keeping to instructions to exercise restraint.
Realising that tension was mounting in the area, the police released the six tribals and took them back to Dahijuri.
“We arrested the six under a bailable section. We released them on a personal bond,” said West Midnapore superintendent of police Rajesh Kumar Singh. “We have asked the police to work with restraint.”
Later in the morning, around 1,000 tribals dug up a road at Brindabanpur that connects Lalgarh to Jhargram and Midnapore towns.
But in the evening, tribal leaders assured the West Midnapore administration that the villagers would repair the road dug up this afternoon at Betkundri. They said they would take a decision on repairing the other roads after speaking to the people of Lalgarh.
The tribals also withdrew their demand that SP Singh would have to do “sit-ups holding his ears” and all policemen of Lalgarh would have to “crawl” from Dalilpur to Chhotopelia village, if they want normality to return.
In Calcutta, director-general of police A.B.Vohra promised to look into “specific complaints about police harassment”. “Specific complaints from villagers will be looked into. I shall also take action against those found guilty.”
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