It was January 21, 1974 , At that time, Jharkhand was still a part of Bihar, and the Chief Minister of Bihar was Abdul Ghafoor. There was a leader in those days named Vishwanath Modi. He gave a speech in Jhumri Telaiya and then led a large rally through the town.
When the rally reached the government bus stand, the police arrested him. The crowd then became agitated and moved forward toward the railway station, where some people started throwing stones at a stationary freight train.
In response, the police opened fire from the railway platform and continued firing for nearly 20 to 30 minutes.
I was part of that crowd. At that time, I was a matriculation student and also a member of the NCC (National Cadet Corps). In NCC, we were taught that during gunfire, one should not run, because a bullet travels hundreds of times faster than a human being.
So I hid behind the wall of the small Hanuman temple across the station. In front of the temple — where the Sheetal Chhaya Hotel stands today — there used to be an open field.
A man was running nearby — his name was Ram Balak Rajak, a washerman who used to wash clothes for my family. His shop was located on what is now called Sona Patti Road. I called him to take shelter with me. Just then, a man was shot, and his blood splattered onto the washerman’s clothes.
I saw people falling as bullets struck them — they writhed in pain on the road — but I could do nothing to help. If I had stepped even slightly out from behind the temple wall, I too would have been shot.
Behind the temple, where I was hiding, there was a railway track enclosure. I held on tightly to the iron railing. Whenever a bullet hit the track anywhere, the vibration ran through the whole line, making it hard to hold on. But I gripped it with all my strength.
When the firing finally stopped, police vehicles arrived and began loading the injured and dead bodies into trucks and sacks. They even asked me to help, but I was too terrified. I ran straight home.
Soon after, a curfew was imposed across Jhumri Telaiya.
After the curfew, the police brutality began. They started beating and arresting anyone they could find — even dragging men out of their homes. I still remember some of the people they took away, including the late Munnilal and the late Shankar Tarwe.
On that day, January 21, 1974, many people were shot, and several must have died. I personally saw the police take away 9 to 10 bodies from near where I was hiding. But that night, All India Radio announced that only two people had been injured.
Please share this account with others so that future generations can learn about and remember this dark chapter of our local and national history — a story of violence, fear, and silence that must never be forgotten.
By Mr Aditya Arya
