Group returning from RG Kar protest gathering at the Rashbehari crossing, attacked
Telegraph | 6 November 2024
A group of men and women returning from an RG Kar protest gathering at the Rashbehari crossing were allegedly chased and attacked on Monday night.
Their car was intercepted by a few motorcycles near the Exide crossing and the windscreen of their vehicle was smashed.
The occupants of the car said they were targeted because they were part of the protest demanding justice for the doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
“False allegations have been made upon us that we were in a drunk condition. We are ready to undergo the alcohol test and if any of us tests positive, the government is free to take action against us,” said Abhijit Sen, one of the complainants.
The car carrying men and women wearing “we want justice” badges was returning from Rashbehari. Their car was stopped near the Exide crossing by a group of bike-borne men and two vehicles carrying men and women who were part of a Kali idol immersion procession.
Occupants of the car video-recorded the attack on them without opening the door.
Several men were seen banging on the windows and the windscreen.
The occupants of the car dialled 100 to alert the police. Officers from Shakespeare Sarani police station reached the spot to rescue the occupants.
The immersion party had sped away by then.
A formal complaint has been lodged against the persons who attacked the car.
On analysing CCTV footage and during the investigation, the police found that the immersion procession was from a club in the jurisdiction of Lake police station.
The police said they had started the process of identifying those involved in the attack.
Six persons from that club were summoned to Shakespeare Sarani police station for interrogation on Tuesday evening.
The gathering at the Rashbehari crossing was a scheduled programme organised by a platform called Abhaya Mancha — an umbrella organisation of 80 bodies including those of senior doctors. Similar programmes were scheduled at several places in the city on Monday.
This organisation had called for the lighting of lamps — “Paray Paray Droher Alo Jalo (lights for protest in every neighbourhood)” — on November 4.
On November 9, they will hold a people’s convention on Rani Rashmoni Avenue in Esplanade to mark the completion of three months of the RG Kar hospital tragedy.