Police arrests 25 persons in RG Kar vandalism case
Kolkata: A day after Trinamool Congress MP, Abhishek Banerjee requested the police to ensure that every individual responsible is identified, held accountable and arrested regardless of their political affiliations, Commissioner of Police (CP) Kolkata Vineet Kumar Goyal on Friday said that they have arrested 25 persons so far in connection with the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital.
Banerjee late on Wednesday night posted on his ‘X’ handle: “The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits. As a public representative, I just spoke with CP Kolkata, urging him to ensure that every individual responsible for today’s violence is identified, held accountable, and made to face the law within the next 24 hours, regardless of their political affiliations. The demands of the protesting doctors are fair and justified. This is the minimum they should expect from the government. Their safety and security must be prioritized.”
While talking about the vandalism and the incident of assault on cops on Wednesday night, Goyal said, since the ‘Reclaim the Night’ event was a leaderless crowd it was not possible for the police to apprehend the number of people that would gather. Also, police were unable to apprehend that the crowd would turn violent and barge inside the hospital.
“We did not expect that the crowd would go violent. So far we have arrested 25 persons in connection with the vandalism at the R G Kar hospital,” said Goyal. Before commencing the press conference on Friday, police showed two video footage which purportedly showed a large mob pushing and breaking the barrier and attacking the cops. The violent mob ran inside the hospital and started the vandalism. Goyal later claimed that during interrogation of the arrested persons, no political affiliation of any person was found so far. He also mentioned that those who have been arrested had come from separate places.
Lalbazar sources informed that though no political affiliation is found so far, police suspect that the vandalism was planned by someone or some people using the general gathering as a tool. However, all possible angles are being probed. “During interrogation, various claims were made by the arrested. Someone is saying that he came for the protest and suddenly went inside the hospital along with the others and vandalised in the heat of the moment. A few people said that they came with their friends or acquaintances,” said a Kolkata Police officer.
