A policeman at the Cooch Behar station after dispersing the crowd. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, May 25: Around 200 people beat up an RPF constable and confined three of his colleagues for an hour after a civic employee was assaulted by the law enforcers at Cooch Behar railway station this afternoon.

Rajesh Dey, an employee of the Cooch Behar Municipality, has been admitted to Maharaja Jitendra Narayan Hospital in serious condition. He has fractured his right hand, his family members claimed.

Dey had been handed over to the RPF by the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) on charges of being drunk and misbehaving with the railway official.

Residents of Station Para, the locality adjoining the station, who came to Dey’s rescue said the charges were concocted since the TTE could find nothing wrong with Dey’s demand.

“Dey and many others had purchased tickets on board the train. The TTE had taken the money but refused to give the tickets. When Dey asked for them, the TTE became angry. Dey then pointed out that there were others who too had paid for tickets to the railway official but were yet to receive them. The TTE was caught trying to make some money, and, to hide his illegal act, he cooked up the story that Rajesh was drunk,” said Ramnaryan Kapur.

The assistant sub-inspectors and the two constables of the RPF were released after the chairman of the Cooch Behar Municipality, Biren Kundu, and a police team intervened. Kundu alleged that the RPF men had beaten up Dey mercilessly. A written complaint has been lodged with the local police against them.

Dey said from his hospital bed that he was on a local train from Alipurduar that stopped at Cooch Behar station around 1.45pm. He alleged that the TTE had picked up a quarrel with him, even though he had bought tickets from him.

“Soon after we got down at the station, the TTE took us to the RPF saying that I was drunk. The RPF started beating me with lathis. As soon the news spread, local people came to my rescue,” said Dey, who lives close to the railway station.

Assistant sub-inspector of the RPF Sushil Kumar Roy confirmed that the TTE had handed Dey over to him saying that he was drunk.

“He tore the uniform of one of the constables. This provoked me and I assaulted the man. But soon a huge crowd gathered and snatched away Dey from our custody. They locked us in a room for almost an hour and beat up one of my colleagues Rajeev Kumar Sharma,” Roy said.

The RPF assault comes six days after 1,200 policemen on their way back from election duty turned lawless, ransacking the New Cooch Behar station premises and beating up railway staff because the rake that was supposed to take them to Howrah arrived late.

The same group performed a similar act the next day at Eklakhi station in Malda. The railways have filed a complaint against the rampaging policemen and a probe has been ordered.