On February 20th 2022, the Birbhum Association for Saving Life, Livelihood and Environment (an association of the indigenous people of Birbhum) organised a protest at Dewanganj football ground against the Deocha Pachami coal mining project in the Birbhum district of West Bengal. Thousands of villagers participated in the protest meeting and openly declared that they did not want any coal mine. Following the protest, police raided the houses of the organisers of the meeting, and detained 9 people. The 9 included Moha Mardi, Kalicharan Baske, Abdul Maleque Molla, Hasnain Imam, Samiran Sengupta, Sumit Nanda, Tanweer Ahmed Khan, Md Rashid and Prosenjit Bose (an economist and activist based in Kolkata). The persons detained were produced in Sirui court on February 21st. They were charged with various charges including unlawful assembly, attempt to murder, and kidnapping. On March 9th 2022, a district court granted bail to all the 9 on the condition that they physically return to the Mohammed Bazar police station every week for the next 2 months.