Calcutta, Jan. 27: Alleged Trinamul Congress supporters yesterday stormed a South 24-Parganas police station, broke open its lock-up and took away a partyman arrested on charges of robbery and rioting.

The officer in charge of the coastal police station near Gosaba and the four other policemen there were severely beaten up by the 250-odd people chanting “Trinamul Congress zindabad”.

An officer said Soumen Patra, a wanted man in the police’s book, had been arrested Monday night.

Around 8am on Tuesday, all the 20-odd personnel of the new police station at Chhotomollahkhali, 220km from Calcutta, took part in a Republic Day parade. But most of them left after that.

“From 9.30am, villagers started gathering in fives and tens and the police distributed sweets among them,” said a district police officer.

Some of those who were thought to be there for the sweets later joined the gang that came armed with rods and crowbars. The lone sentry was thrashed first and then the three constables distributing sweets and an assistant sub-inspector.

Hearing the commotion, officer-in-charge Kaushik Kundu rushed out and he was immediately surrounded and hit with rods on his neck.

A group rushed into the police station and hammered the lock-up gate with the rods and crowbars. The lock gave way and Soumen was snatched. The entire operation lasted no more than 20 minutes.

“Before fleeing, they shouted ‘Trinamul zindabad’,” the OC said from his hospital bed.

Additional superintendent of police S. Sinha Roy, said: “The entire operation was pre-planned. The villagers gathered gradually and systematically to free the prisoner.”

A large police team led by Sinha Roy raided neighbouring areas and arrested 14 people. Trinamul workers led by district party chief Sovan Chatterjee crowded Alipore court today when the 14 were sent to a fortnight’s jail custody.

District police chief L.N. Meena said: “Those arrested were charged with assaulting policemen and destroying government property.”

Trinamul called it a “villagers’ outburst against police atrocities”. “The police became scared seeing their anger and freed the prisoner,” said party MLA Partha Chatterjee.

Asked if the freed Soumen was a Trinamul supporter, he said: “I can tell you he was neither a supporter of the CPM nor the RSP. But there were supporters of all parties among the villagers.”