At least five people were arrested during protests over eviction of hawkers at Jadavpur railway station here in the early hours of Monday, police said. The eviction drive commenced after midnight, they said. “Five people were arrested in connection with the protests,” a police officer said. Meanwhile, the CPI(M) alleged that police lathicharged protesting hawkers and party leaders, including its central committee member Sujan Chakraborty and Students' Federation of India (SFI) state general secretary Srijan Bhattacharya. "Multiple comrades suffered head injuries from the lathi blows," the CPI(M) said in a statement. SFI supporters also sat on a dharna on Raja S C Mullick Road in front of Jadavpur University, which is near the railway station, to protest against the arrests and the alleged lathicharge. The CPI(M) leadership demanded proper rehabilitation for the hawkers before eviction. An Eastern Railway official said train services on the Sealdah-Baruipur line, which passes through the Jadavpur railway station, was normal. CPI(M) MP Amara Ram had last week written to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking an immediate halt to the eviction of hawkers from railway land and stations in Kolkata and adjoining areas. He said that in West Bengal, there has long been a culture of hawkers in and outside railway stations who sell products, including food, at affordable rates. “My request to you is to stop these bulldozer actions with immediate effect,” Ram had stated in the letter.