Nabanna Abhijan: ‘7 FIRs registered so far for vandalism’
Kolkata: Commissioner of Police (CP) Kolkata Manoj Kumar Verma on Sunday said the police are probing allegations that the mother of the raped-murdered junior doctor of RG Kar Medical College was assaulted by the force and that they have so far registered seven FIRs for allegedly obstructing police personnel from performing their duties, assaulting them and causing damage to public properties during a march to the Bengal Secretariat on August 9.
Verma had on Sunday morning visited SSKM Hospital to meet injured policemen who were allegedly attacked by protestors and BJP leaders. After meeting one such officer, the CP said: “We are investigating what happened. So far, seven FIRs have been registered. First we will investigate and identify the accused. Those who violated the Calcutta High Court order, assaulted police, threatened police, or damaged government property are being identified. Arrests will follow.”
Sources said the FIRs pertain to protestors who allegedly assaulted police during a march to Nabanna after changing the designated route and proceeding beyond the point where they had been directed to stop. The FIRs name several BJP leaders, including Ashok Dinda and Agnimitra Paul.
Meanwhile, the deceased doctor’s mother alleged that police assaulted her on Saturday. Asked about the claim, Verma said: “We are investigating this matter too. All footage will be reviewed and we cannot comment until then. However, the mother of the murdered junior doctor should not have been attacked. It is sad. Whether the allegation is true or false, we will investigate. If a complaint comes, it will definitely be probed. Even without a complaint, we will investigate on our own initiative. The investigation has already started.”
Chaos and violent agitation dominated the streets of Kolkata and adjacent Howrah on Saturday, a day that marked the completion of one year of the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Hospital.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders alleged that the BJP had used the grief of the victim’s parents for political mileage, turning a solemn cause into street violence.
“When the matter is sub judice and the CBI is probing, what is the point of storming Nabanna? This was nothing but an attempt to destabilise Bengal,” senior TMC leaders said, adding that the timing, on Raksha Bandhan, was chosen to cause maximum disruption. “The BJP, with help from some other political parties and outsiders, came to create unrest and damage public property. This was not a protest, but a pre-planned vandalism,” added Trinamool leaders.
Incidentally, without directly naming the BJP, TMC in a post on X said that those who profit from selective outrage “consider women’s safety as just another political prop”. Reminding that the Bengal Assembly had “unanimously passed the Aparajita Anti-Rape Bill”, the TMC said it was returned by the Narendra Modi government “raising frivolous objections.”
