It is impossible to say exactly what happened next but at any rate the
stragglers shouted out and main procession came back and started
throwing kanker at the Police. For some time the attack was confined to
vicious kanker throwing, in which thousands of volunteers were engaged.
The sub-inspector, finding that the affair was taking a more serious
turn, asked the rioters to desist, but they would not take any heed, and
attacked the police with lathies. The sub-inspector, in order to
frighten the mob, fired a few shots in the air. This infuriated the mob,
who made a rush towards the thana with lathies and spears. A few
policemen were knocked down, and the remainder of the police went inside
the thana buildings for protection. One or two policemen must have fired
on the mob in earnest, as some of the rioters had received gunshot
wounds, but whether the firing took place before the rush or after it is
not known yet. By this time several of the policemen had been killed
outside the police buildings, and one party fetched oil and straw and
set fire to the thana at various points. This drove the entire police
force out of the buildings.
They were immediately set upon by the mob and done to death in the most
brutal manner. Their heads were battered with hinges torn from the doors
of the thana, and then the bodies were soaked in oil and burnt. The
charred remains were recovered, some in front of the thana, others in
the thana compound and one at the back of the thana. Some of the armed
policemen had obviously been battered to death by their own muskets.
There was a certain amount of money in the thana and it is suspected
that the rioters, having killed the policemen, looted the thana and then
set fire to the buildings. The sub-Inspector's family quarters, it is
believed, were also looted, and cash and jewellery were removed, but the
inmates were not interfered with. The family quarters also bear marks of
violence. The windows have been removed, and there are wide apertures in
the roof. After having completely destroyed the police station the
rioters dismantled the railway line in two places, and cut the telegraph
wires. They threatened to kill the railway station master and the post
master of Chauri Chaura if they sent any messages to the authorities at
Gorakhpur. In all 22 policemen, including two Sub Inspectors, one head
constable, 15 constables, four chowkidars and a servant of the
Sub-Inspector were killed. Among the dead were found two of the rioters.
A constable, and a chowkidar, who were at the police station during the
attack escaped, and these men have been traced, and it is believed that
their statement will throw considerable light on the whole affair.
Complete quiet has now been restored. The Commissioner, the Magistrate
and the Superintendent of Police visited the scene immediately on
receipt of information, and restored confidence among the village people
and the railway and telegraph lines were quickly repaired. Mr. Sands,
the Deputy Inspector General of Police, attended the funeral of the dead
policemen. The authorities immediately after the incident, invited three
prominent gentlemen of Gorakhpur, one of whom is a non-co-operator, to
visit the scene of the tragedy.--_The Pioneer February 9, 1922._