Kolkata protest turns violent, cops use force

A citywide protest in Kolkata against the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a public hospital descended into violence on Tuesday as police lobbed tear gas shells and fired water cannons to disperse protesters who smashed down metal barricades in a thwarted bid to march towards the state secretariat Nabanna and demand West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which supported the “Nabanna Abhijaan” (journey to Nabanna) march, condemned the violence against the protesters and called for a strike on Wednesday, even as leaders of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress alleged the march was orchestrated by Opposition groups and pointed to instances of police personnel being attacked.

Tuesday’s violence, which left dozens of protesters and 12 police personnel injured, was a fresh nadir for the weeks-long agitation against the grisly August 9 crime, which stunned the state and prompted nationwide protests.

“Common people gathered on the streets to raise their voice against the administration but police tried to silence them. Supporters of many political parties took part without their flags,” said Subhankar Haldar, one of the organisers of the protest.

The 31-year-old woman was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata early on August 9. Her body was found around 9am and Sanjay Roy, a 31-year-old civic volunteer with the police, was arrested.

An autopsy confirmed that the woman was brutalised and assaulted before the murder.

The Kolkata high court on August 13transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and the Supreme Court has pointed to a raft of lapses by the Kolkata Police during its investigation.

On Tuesday, thousands of people spilled onto the streets of Kolkata, undeterred by the sharp rain, after a newly formed students’ union known as the Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj called for a march towards Nabanna, in neighbouring Howrah, west of the Hooghly river. To be sure, at least two of the key leaders, Haldar and Sayan Lahiri, of the organisation said they are members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP respectively.

The Kolkata Police pre-emptively fortified large parts of the city, welding metal barricades together and lathering them in oil to keep people from breaking through or climbing atop them.

Security personnel fanned out across Kolkata and Howrah, as the looming tensions prompted some schools to switch to online classes and a few offices to work from home.

Riot police and armoured vehicles had dotted the city since Monday night.

“We deployed a few hundred personnel and anti-riot vehicles because intelligence reports indicated that some miscreants might attack policemen,” said a Howrah police officer, asking not to be named.

The agitation was scheduled to begin around 2pm, but people began trickling out around 12.30pm, despite the state government and police denying permission.

Several BJP leaders, including its West Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar, took part in the marches.

“Barricades were set up on Kona Expressway, Howrah Bridge and on every road and lanes around Nabanna as a precautionary measure,” said the police officer cited above.

The first signs of violence were sparked an hour before the agitation was slated to begin, when a crowd tried to mow through a barricade in Howrah Maidan neighbourhood. Minutes later, around 2km away, protesters in Santragachhi allegedly pelted stones at police personnel, prompting officers to fire tear gas shells, stun grenades and water cannons.

Soon, chaos engulfed large swathes of the city, as people climbed atop barriers and police vehicles in an attempt to plough towards Nabanna. However, security forces soon used force to control the crowds, hitting protesters with lathis in several areas, including the iconic Red Road, which leads towards the Eden Gardens.

Visuals showed policemen firing tear gas at crowds and then charging at the dazed protesters. In some parts, officers dragged people by their clothing or hair.

Debasish Chakraborty, a traffic police sergeant, was hospitalised after people battered a police vehicle with rocks at Princep Ghat, on the banks of the Hooghly river.

A police motorcycle was also set ablaze and a taxi was vandalised at the same spot.

Meanwhile, a mob beat a police officer with sticks in Howrah Maidan, an assault that was captured by TV cameras.

“At least 12 policemen were injured in the attacks. We have arrested 96 people. Specific cases will be filed against them once we go through all the security camera footage,” said additional director general of police (south Bengal) Supratim Sarkar.

“We had prior information that miscreants would be present among the agitators, which is why we banned the agitation on Monday. Police exercised extreme caution and restraint,” he said.

“The agitation was held in the name of Chhatra Samaj, which is supposed to represent students but most of the people we saw today were hooligans. Only a few were students,” Sarkar added.

“The agitation was planned specifically to create trouble in West Bengal,” said TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh.

Chief minister Banerjee was in her office at Nabanna during the protests.

Minister of state for finance Chandrima Bhattacharya underscored the police’s “restraint”. “People must see through the conspiracy BJP and its partners have hatched to create disturbance in Bengal. They are using a heinous crime as an opportunity to play a political game. We have all condemned the crime and the CBI is investigating it. They should have marched to the CBI office,” she said.

State BJP chief Majumdar was part of a rally that attempted to storm the city police headquarters. “We are calling for a strike to protest the police atrocities... Many agitators, including women and elderly people, are admitted in hospital with injuries. The Mamata Banerjee government used excessive force on peaceful protestors,” Majumdar said in the afternoon.

“As home minister, Mamata Banerjee must take responsibility and resign,” Majumdar said.

Alapan Bandopadhyay, chief advisor to the chief minister, announced that the government would not allow protests on Wednesday.