Kolkata Police Arrest Two More in Esplanade Protest Violence Case, carry out ‘crime reconstruction’ on barefoot
Times of India | 28 July 2026
Kolkata: Kolkata Police has arrested two more suspects in connection with the violence at Esplanade last Friday after a protest march over the NEET paper leak. The fresh arrests on Sunday night have taken the total number of arrests to 16.
Hours later, police took five of these arrested men — all of them barefoot and at least one of them in Bermudas — to the Dorina Crossing amid heavy traffic for a detailed “crime-scene reconstruction”.
The exercise at the busy Esplanade intersection took place around noon, with cops escorting five barefoot accused — Mohammad Afroz, Sk Md Salman Hussain, Md Alamgir, Khalid Reza alias Rinku and Mohammad Moinuddin — to recreate the sequence of events and ascertain each individual’s role in the unrest.
The cops arrived at the spot in a prison van with all the accused. Later, four of them were brought out (except Alamgir) — turn by turn — with each accused being taken towards KC Das, RR Avenue and the Maidan Market and asked to point out their movement around Dorina Crossing. As the accused kept pleading that they were merely there as part of the protest rally, several media personnel and even onlookers crowded around the accused asking for their reactions or just for getting the footage. Several of the officers, holding the accused by their hands, were seen noting down responses of the accused and cross-questioning them.
“It was carried out to verify sequence of events and ascertain the individual role of each accused. The probe is progressing on the basis of evidence, including video footage, digital material and witness statements. More arrests will be made if further involvement is established,” a senior Kolkata Police officer said later at Lalbazar.
The two latest arrests were carried out in Park Circus and Garden Reach, cops told the Bankshall Court on Monday. Officers identified them as 35-year-old Wakar Azam, a resident of Karaya, and 32-year-old Javed Akhtar of Nadial. Police alleged that both had actively participated in the violence and vandalism during Friday’s demonstration. Cops insisted that both were not students and has no links with the Cockroach Janta Party.
On Monday, the two were produced at Bankshall Court. Both were sent to a day’s police custody. All the 16 accused will be produced in court on Tuesday where their lawyers have already filed for bail.
It was during the Monday hearing that the defence lawyers argued that the accused were being made to walk barefoot on the street and questioned whether such treatment was lawful. He also stated that the accused were not members of the organisation that had called the protest. Custody for the two was requested till Aug 9.
Cops maintained that the disturbance at the protest rally was “premeditated and deliberately instigated” by outside elements. “We are probing the role of at least 70 individuals who are neither student nor affiliated with the CJP. They have no genuine connection to the medical entrance exam movement,” said an officer.
Police said further raids are underway across the city to track down remaining suspects identified through digital surveillance and CCTV footage.