Netas, police clash during BJP’s Swasthya Bhavan rally
Times of India | 23 August 2024
Kolkata: Bengal BJP’s rally to Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake on Thursday turned into a clash as party functionaries tried to breach multiple police barricades. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya and former Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh were detained by police.
Bengal BJP took out the rally from Ultadanga crossing in the afternoon and started walking towards the state health department headquarters in Sector V.
Ghosh accused the state govt and health authorities of attempting to conceal the truth and destroy evidence related to the rape and murder of the PGT doctor at RG Kar. During the march, BJP workers raised slogans demanding justice. Meanwhile, police had put up barricades to stop the protesters from reaching Swasthya Bhavan. As the rally approached Indira Bhavan, BJP workers breached the police barricades there. However, police stopped them and placed another barricade on the road ahead.
At this point, Adhikari approached a prison van and police detained him inside the vehicle. Bhattacharya was also detained. “Mamata Banerjee is leading a govt that gives shelter to rapists and murderers. It is time she should quit,” Adhikari said. BJP workers later staged a protest in front of the Bidhannagar East police station.
“They have tried to stop a peaceful rally. We have broken every barricade. But we believe in democracy and have registered our protest in front of the Swasthya Bhavan in a peaceful way,” Majumdar said. “Where were the police when 7,000 people broke barricades and vandalised the RG Kar premises? There is an inner wheel which runs the health department in the state and that needs to be exposed,” he added. BJP has announced plans to surround all police stations across the state on Friday.