"Are we terrorists?": A hawker couple stares at uncertainty after overnight demolition shock in Kolkata

On the intervening night of 30 and 31st May, 2026, security forces, armed with bulldozers, razed the kiosks of several hawkers built on railway land at the Dum Dum railway station in Bengal.

Biswajit Sau, 40, and his wife Rupali were among the hundreds of hawkers who pleaded for more time and steps for their rehabilitation. But all in vain. Eastern Railway authorities claimed the drive was aimed at clearing alleged illegal stalls and structures.

When bulldozers dismantled Biswajit's stall along with hundred others on platforms 1 to 4 and along station approach roads, apparently for passenger ease, he broke down seeing his sole source of income being destroyed within minutes.