Surendra Soren
Ranchi
Dumri MLA Jairam Kumar Mahto and 11 of his supporters have been booked for allegedly entering Barwadda police station forcibly, abusing and manhandling on-duty police personnel, issuing threats and attempting to free an accused from police custody.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint by Barwadda police station in-charge Ravi Kumar. Around 40–50 unidentified persons have also been named in the case.
According to the FIR, the incident took place on the night of August 22. Police had arrested Ganesh Das, an accused in Barwadda police station case no. 129/2026, after he allegedly misbehaved with and manhandled a woman sub-inspector, Meenu Kumari, and other police personnel when a police team went to serve him a notice.
Following the arrest, the officer-in-charge allegedly received a WhatsApp call in which he was abused and threatened with consequences, including removal from service and physical harm. The FIR alleges that Mahto told the officer that he would be made to “face the consequences” if the government changed.
Police further alleged that Mahto subsequently arrived at the police station with around 40–50 supporters at about 10 pm. According to the complaint, an attempt was made to get the arrested accused released from the lock-up.
The FIR alleges that supporter Dilip Choudhary punched the officer-in-charge’s table and damaged his nameplate. When police officials attempted to prevent the accused from being taken out of custody, Mahto allegedly pushed the station in-charge and obstructed government work.
The alleged disturbance continued for around two-and-a-half hours, according to police, disrupting normal functioning at the station. Additional police forces from Govindpur and Dhanbad were later deployed to bring the situation under control.
Police said the alleged telephone conversation and CCTV footage from the police station have been collected as evidence.
Those named in the FIR, apart from Mahto, include Sushil Mandal, Dilip Choudhary, Raj Kumar Mandal, Jitendra Hazari, Ajay Das, Golak Mahto, Mahendra Sao, Ranjit Sao, Rajesh Mahto and Tripurari Pandey. Further investigation is underway.
The incident has triggered a strong reaction among police personnel in Dhanbad, with several officers and personnel reportedly expressing solidarity with the Barwadda station in-charge. An audio recording of the alleged conversation between Mahto and the police officer has also circulated widely on social media.
Responding to the allegations, Mahto acknowledged that there had been a heated exchange at the police station but challenged the police to take action if the allegations were found to be true.
He said he was not intimidated by the case and would face any legal action. The allegations made in the FIR are yet to be established in court.
