Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a 12-hour-long dawn-to-dusk strike in West Bengal to protest against the police action against protestors during Nabanna Abhijan on Wednesday. The streets of Kolkata and Howrah were gripped by violence and chaos during the Nabanna Abhijan rally on Tuesday.
A trainee doctor was allegedly raped and killed at the seminar hall of government-run RK Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 triggering nationwide protests. Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal 2. Students Community) and the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organisation of state government employees, called for Nabanna Abhijan on August 27 demanding CM Mamata Banerjee's resignation.
Aiming to reach the West Bengal state secretariat, Nabanna, protestors fought pitched battles with the police at multiple stoppage points. As protestors tried to break the barricades, Kolkata Police resorted to large-scale lathi-charge, unleashed water cannons and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the aggressive crowd The violence, which lasted for nearly four hours, led to several injuries on both sides with senior police officers and women protestors among those who were hurt.
10 Points
1. West Bengal Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari alleged that over 160 protestors, including 17 women, suffered injuries in the police action. The BJP leader urged Governor CV Ananda Bose to "impose President's Rule" in the state.
2. Condemning the police action on protestors, the president of BJP's Bengal unit Sukanta Majumdar called a 12-hour Bangla bandh on Wednesday. Sukanta Majumdar also participated in the protest outside Kolkata Police Headquarters in the Lal Bazar area demanding the release of students who were detained by police.
3. BJP National President JP Nadda took to X and said, "The images of police highhandedness from Kolkata have angered every person who values democratic principles. In Didi's West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it's a crime to speak for women's safety."
4. The West Bengal government urged people not to respond to BJP's 6 am-6 pm general strike. "The government will not allow any bandh on Wednesday. We urge people not to participate in it. All steps shall be taken to ensure that normal life is unaffected," said Alapan Bandopadhyay, the chief advisor to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
5. The West Bengal government issued a notification stating that all government offices would remain open and all employees, except those facing exigencies or are on leave, would have to report for duty on August 28 or face show-cause for their unauthorised absence.
6. The BJP has accused Banerjee of shielding those involved in the alleged crime and has called for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a polygraph test on her. The party condemned the police's response to the protest and continues to call for Banerjee’s resignation.
7. CBI has sought permission from a Kolkata court to conduct a polygraph test on city police assistant sub-inspector Anup Dutta who was said to be close to Sanjay Roy.
8. CBI conducted a lie detection test on Sanjay Roy at the Presidency Jail where he is lodged. A civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was arrested as the prime accused in this case by the Kolkata Police on August 10.
9. A CCTV footage and a Bluetooth device found near the medic's body resulted in the arrest of Roy, who was allegedly seen entering the seminar hall of the college where the body was found at around 4 am.
10. The Calcutta High Court on August 13 ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14.