West Bengal. Student and labour organisations are holding a rally on Tuesday in protest against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata on 8-9 August. The protesters of Nabanna Abhijan March, West Bengal Student Society and Sangrami Jautha Manch have demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Nabanna is the secretariat of the West Bengal government, where the Chief Minister, ministers and officers sit. The protestors’ rally started at around 12:45 pm. The protestors broke the barricades at Santragachhi near Howrah. After this, the police resorted to lathicharge and water cannon. Tear gas shells were also fired.
Dozens of protesters are reported to have been injured in police action. Citing violence, the police have declared the rally illegal. A force of 6 thousand has been deployed in three layers on 7 routes to stop the protesters from going to Nabanna. Barricading has been done at 19 points and DCPs have been deployed at 21 points. Howrah Bridge has been closed. Drones are being used for surveillance.
Section 163 of BNS (Section 144 of CrPC) has been imposed near the state secretariat Nabanna. Not more than 5 people will gather here at a time. Apart from this, heavy containers have also been placed on the roads through cranes, so that the protesters cannot move forward. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress MP Sayani Ghosh has called the students’ protest as hooliganism. She said that this is exactly like hooliganism.
