Trinamool Congress supporters laid siege to Khejuri police station on Friday. They cut off the area by felling trees and putting up human barricades.

They demanded that 14 people arrested on Thursday after incidents of rioting and arson should be unconditionally released else the blockade and boycott of the police will continue.

Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Contai, Bhaskar Mukhjerjee, said Trinamool supporters have put up the blockades in several places around the Khejuri police station and have restricted the movement of the police since last evening.

Trinamool MP from Contai Sisir Adhikary said the blockade of the Khejuri police station will continue till the innocent people are released.

The state government has taken a strict note of the situation with state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen saying that the administration will be forced to act if the siege was not lifted immediately.

The home secretary’s warning comes in the backdrop of Thursday’s CPM state committee meeting, in which party members had criticised the administration’s alleged inaction in handling the Khejuri violence. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee faced indirect flak for failing to ensure passage to five state ministers to Khejuri.

Senior police officers said the situation was heading for a showdown with both sides adopting a rigid stand.

Reacting to the comments made by Sen, Sisir said: “We have seen lots of police action in Nandigram. We know what the police can do.”

Trinamool MP from Tamluk Suvendu Adhikary held a meeting in Khejuri and asked CPM leaders, from whose homes firearms and ammunition have been seized, to surrender before the police instead of facing public wrath.

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