Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: 6,000 Cops, Water Cannons Deployed Amid Tensions Over ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ Today

Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: 6,000 Cops, Water Cannons Deployed Amid Tensions Over ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ Today

PTI

Chandigarh : Kolkata Police have beefed up security over claims of possible disruptions during the students’ ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ rally or march to Nabanna’ (state secretariat) in Kolkata on Tuesday seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier this month.

Police have deployed over 6,000 personnel on the city streets from 8 am, kept water cannons ready, and set-up at least 19 barricade points. The state has put 26 district collectors in charge to monitor the situation.

Amid claims by the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Police of potential disruptions, student organisation Chhatra Samaj insisted that its August 27 'Nabanna Abhijan' rally will be peaceful and focused on demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister and the arrest of those responsible for the alleged rape-murder of the doctor.

The call for March to Nabanna, the Bengal state secretariat, was separately given by an unregistered students' body Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organisation of state government employees who have been agitating since long demanding their DA to be made at par with their Central government counterparts.

The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and “unauthorized”, and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.

The government has already imposed prohibitory orders near Nabanna under Section 163 of BNSS preventing the assembly of five or more persons.

Calling the rally a “conspiracy” to cause chaos on the streets, the Trinamool Congress released a couple of purported videos of BJP leaders from Ghatal in Paschim Medinipur district planning to incite violence at the rally.

Both leaders were detained for questioning by the police.

Meanwhile, in a video message released by the Raj Bhavan late Monday evening, Governor CV Ananda Bose urged the state government not to use power to stop the students from organising the rally.

The apex court on August 22 said peaceful protests over the incident shall not be disturbed or disrupted by the West Bengal government. The court, however, clarified that it has not injuncted the state government from exercising lawful powers.

In a late evening development, the police shifted a group of people who gathered near Nabanna which is located in Howrah.

In the wake of possible disruption of normal life because of the protest march, several educational institutions will either hold online classes on Tuesday or have declared a holiday.

Meanwhile, the CBI on Monday held a second round of polygraph tests on former RG Kar Medical College principal Sandip Ghosh and five others as part of their investigation into the rape-murder of a woman doctor at the institution.

Ghosh and former hospital official Sanjay Vashisth are also being investigated for alleged financial irregularities at the institution. With PTI inputs