Kolkata RG Kar rape-murder case: Cop worry over ‘Chhatra Samaj’ march to Nabanna on Tuesday
Times of India | 25 August 2024
KOLKATA: The state secretariat building at Mandirtala in Howrah is set to turn into a fortress ahead of the Nabanna Abhijan being planned by ‘Chhatra Samaj or Student Society’ on Aug 27. Around 2,100 cops are planned to be deployed from Vidyasagar Setu to Santragachhi. There would be access-control and if required, Vidyasagar Setu would be shut, said an officer, adding riverfront security would be stepped up.
Kolkata Police issued a notification late on Saturday, extending the prohibition on the assembly of more than five persons around RG Kar and in Shyambazar area for another seven days.The prohibition under Section 2 of Sec 163 of BNSS will be valid from Aug 24 to Aug 30.
The state had apprised the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court of their apprehension about possible disruption on the streets but the HC refused to issue any prohibitory order. To ensure the scene did not spiral out of hands, Bengal Police and Kolkata Police said, they were preparing for a security arrangement.
“We will throw a three-layer security ring around Nabanna. There will be adequate presence of cops in central, north and south Kolkata as well and extra vigilance around RG Kar Hospital,” said a police officer. “The call for the march is gaining momentum. Three organizers said they planned to first meet on College Street and at Santragachhi at 1 pm on Tuesday. But given the record of ‘unplanned, spontaneous protests’, we will keep adequate force ready at Shyambazar, Burrabazar, Howrah Maidan and on the Vidyasagar Setu ramps.” State intelligence units said some of the organizers belonged to a right wing students’ body and a couple of organisers have ultra-Left leanings. An audit of the area near Nabanna is underway to decide on final deployment of forces.
Police said they had come across several videos, audios, messages and online forwards, which spoke about plans for “sabotage” of the protest and that several politicians from extreme Left as well as right were endorsing it on a “personal basis”. Sources said 21 Bengal Police officers of IG and DIG ranks, along with an equal number of additional and joint CPs from Kolkata and Howrah police, would be on the road. “We will issue a traffic diversion notification. But avoiding central and south-central Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon seems to be the basic advice,” said a senior officer.
Claiming to be organizers of the march, three youths—Prabir Das, a PG student at RBU, Shubhankar Haldar, a BEd student at Kalyani University, and Sayan Lahiri, an MBA student at MAKAUT—held a news meet at Press Club on Saturday. They said it would be apolitical and no flags would be allowed in the procession. “The march will be to demand justice for the victim’s family and exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. Though the march is being called under ‘Student Society’, we want people from all walks of life to join,” said Haldar.