40 years ago August 24, 1986: Clash at phone exchange

Opinion 40 years ago August 24, 1986: Clash at phone exchange This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 24, 1986.

Key points

• 2 min readAug 24, 2026 06: 40 AM IST First published on: Aug 24, 2026 at 06: 40 AM IST.
• West Bengal Pradesh Congress (I) President Priya Ranjan Das Munshi on Saturday narrowly escaped from being killed at his office on Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square in Central Calcutta.
• This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 24, 1986.
• According to A hospital source, two of them had suffered "60-80 per cent burns." Attack on political leader.
• Troops wielding machine guns and dressed in battle fatigues took control of Kidwai Bhavan.

Troops wielding machine guns and dressed in battle fatigues took control of Kidwai Bhavan. Women staff present in the building in the evening were ordered to work or obtain out of the building. As the women continued to protest in groups, policemen and authorities ordered the women staff out. There were no women constables as the women were being pushed out. Notably, a number of males among the staff were beaten up by policemen when they sat inside shouting slogans against P C Sethi, Congress-I MP who allegedly threatened and humiliated a woman telephone operator inside the exchange. One woman operator remarked she was hit by a policeman inside the building.

When a powerful blast ripped apart the basement of the multi-storeyed Suraj Plaza extension building in the Sayajigunj area of Baroda at around 10.45 a.m, three persons were injured, two of them seriously. The three were rushed to the Sayajigunj Hospital. According to A hospital source, two of them had suffered "60-80 per cent burns." Attack on political leader.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress (I) President Priya Ranjan Das Munshi on Saturday narrowly escaped from being killed at his office on Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square in Central Calcutta. A violent mob stormed the office room when his personal security guard fired three rounds in the air to scare away the miscreants. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd.

In short, 40 years ago August 24, 1986: Clash at phone exchange is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.