Hawker eviction triggers violence at Asansol station

Asansol: Hawkers ran amok at the Asansol station on Tuesday afternoon, destroying property worth lakhs on Tuesday. The violence continued for nearly 45 minutes before a large Railway Protection Force (RPF) contingent reached the spot and resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
Seven injured hawkers were injured received injuries and were had to be admitted to the Asansol District Hospital and 27 were arrested.A passenger also received injuries in the stone pelting. Tension has prevailed at the Asansol station - one of the most important ones in eastern India - since the past six months over the eviction of illegal hawkers from the railway premises. The hawkers, carrying Trinamool Congress flags turned violent after two of them were nabbed during an eviction drive. The chaos escalated after hawkers came across a false news of a hawker dying due to lathi-charge. f a hawker was spread Chaos spread after a rumour that one of the hawkers had died in a police lathi-charge.
The miscreants broke into a ticket booking counter on platform 7, smashing computers, destroyed the hard drives and damaged air-conditioners.
"It was a routine drive against unauthorised hawking. Two unauthorised hawkers were nabbed after which one of their leaders led a delegation to meet senior RPF officials. Suddenly, another group of hawkers stormed the platform and started pelting stones.
They also stoned a passenger train on platform five. A passenger received minor injuries," said T K Gupta, senior commandant, RPF.
Eastern Railway spokesperson Biswanath Murmu said that the north side booking office has been badly damaged and will remain closed till repairs are carried out and equipment replaced. The north side booking counter was set up for the convenience of people living in the Railpar area of Asansol, he said.
Train services in Asansol were disrupted for nearly an hour due to the violence. Among those injured are two hawker union leaders Binod Singh and Jaffar Ali. Another union leader Shakti Chanda claimed that hawkers at Asansol are being targeted by the RPF. "We are being harassed at Asansol while people are freely doing business at other stations. I have been hawking in Asansol for over thirty years now," he said.
Asansol MP and union minister of state for urban development Babul Supriyo said that people should abide by any rule made by the railways.Box:Lawlessness at railway premises has now become a norm in West Bengal
While hawkers resort to violence to protect their livelihood, even ticketless travelers ransack stations if apprehended
August, 2011 - The Titagarh station was ransacked after the a youth was runover by a local train
September, 2011 - The Bagnan station was ransacked after ticketless travelers were apprehended
October, 2011 - The Baruipur station was ransacked by ticketless travelers
Jane, 2012 - The Bolpur station was ransacked by hawkers after an eviction drive
May, 2015 - An RPF constable was killed during a violent protest by hawkers at the Malda station