RG Kar tragedy: Police lathi-charge protesters; victim's parents, BJP MLAs injured, alleges LoP Suvendu

Police baton-charged protesters at the Park Street crossing in central Kolkata during a march to the West Bengal Secretariat Nabanna on Saturday to mark the completion of one year of the brutal rape and murder of an on-duty doctor inside the state-run RG Kar hospital.

Tension prevailed as protesters tried to breach the barricades in their attempt to head towards the Vidyasagar Setu after ignoring police warnings not to move beyond the Rani Rashmoni Road assembly point.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, alongside BJP leader Agnimitra Paul and other BJP MLAs, held a sit-in at the Park Street-JL Nehru Road crossing, while alleging that more than 100 protesters, including Adhikari and other BJP leaders, were injured in police action.

Adhikari also claimed that the parents of the RG Kar victim were injured during the lathi charge.

“Mamata Banerjee will pay dearly for this. This protest is only going to get bigger from here,” Adhikari warned.

A section of protesters taking part in a march reached Santragachi in Howrah district on Saturday and attempted to breach the iron wall barricades set up by the city police there.

As part of the 'Nabanna Chalo Abhiyan', the protesters raised slogans for justice for the RG Kar victim and voiced their resolve to reach the state secretariat, irrespective of the blockades put up by the police.

“The police can fire upon us, but we are determined to reach 'Nabanna', where the state government must answer why justice has not been delivered to Abhaya (RG Kar victim) even after one year,” a protester was heard saying.

Amid constant alerts over loudspeakers by the police urging protestors to abide by the Calcutta High Court order to maintain law and order, demonstraters were seen scaling the 10-ft-high barricades in their attempts to breach them.

Some agitators were also seen using blunt instruments to break the iron walls and carve openings within them to ensure a cross over.

The protesters were seen carrying the Tricolour besides posters and banners demanding justice for the victim and the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The parents of the deceased doctor urged citizens to join the march to Nabanna, while Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, appealed to BJP workers to participate in the procession without any party flag.

Adhikari, accompanied by a section of BJP MLAs, earlier in the day, joined the victim's parents at the Dorina Crossing in Esplanade in central Kolkata sans BJP's banners, flags and other party insignia. “The Mamata Banerjee administration is fearing this massive crowd which has gathered in protest,” Adhikari said.

Crowds were found swelling at both the assembly points in Howrah and Kolkata, with the state police not allowing the protesters to reach anywhere close to the West Bengal secretariat.

“The police are not cooperating with us despite the high court permitting us to hold a peaceful protest rally,” the father of the victim alleged. “The police tried to prevent people from reaching the assembly point by stopping their vehicles at various points en route,” he added.