126 Held Over Kolkata Protests, BJP’s Bandh Call Prompts TMC Govt’s Warning

Around 126 people were arrested during the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest march to the state secretariat in Kolkata on Tuesday afternoon. The march, which started near Howrah Bridge, was called by student bodies seeking the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital.

Several students and citizens joined the march displaying the tricolour in their hands and raising slogans as they moved towards the secretariat.

Amidst heightened security, protesters breached barricades and hurled stones, triggering a face-off with police officials, who used tear gas shells and water cannons to control the situation. Near the Howrah Bride, police lathi-charged some protesters to chase them away.

The call for March to Nabanna, the Bengal state secretariat, was separately given by an unregistered students’ body Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and the Sangrami Joutha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organisation of state government employees who have been agitating since long demanding their DA to be made at par with their Central government counterparts.

BJP president J P Nadda slammed the police’s alleged highhandedness in Kolkata in handling protesters who were agitating against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor, saying “in Didi’s West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued”.

Nadda’s swipe at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came after police lathi-charged, and used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters who threw stones and bricks at security forces and attempted to topple barricades blocking their way to the state secretariat.

“The images of police highhandedness from Kolkata have angered every person who values democratic principles. In Didi’s West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it’s a crime to speak for women’s safety,” Nadda said on X.

Accusing the Kolkata police of repressing people’s voice for justice, Nadda said Banerjee has chosen to maintain silence in the face of the ghastly crime against a woman and the way her parents were misled.

Top Updates  

• Union Minister and BJP leader from West Bengal Sukanta Majumdar said that the bandh that has been called for Wednesday is ‘stand for democracy’. He urged every citizen to join this protest against the RG Kar Hospital incident.
• The police has come out with photos of miscreants from the rally for identification purpose.
• Doctors have condemned police action on protesters at the rally today.
• As many as 126 people have been arrested from the protest rally towards ‘Nabanna’.
• As per West Bengal government order, all government offices have to be open on Wednesday and no ‘bandh’ will be entertained. The order also stated that if  the government employees fail to come, then show cause notice will be served.
• West Bengal BJP has launched a helpline number for legal and medical help to those who were part of the agitation today.
• TMC’s Kunal Ghosh hit out at the protestors and called it a conspiracy and said that it was an attempt to attack ‘Nabanna’.

• Union Minister and BJP national president JP Nadda took to X and said, “The images of police highhandedness from Kolkata have angered every person who values democratic principles. In Didi’s West Bengal, to help rapists and criminals is valued but it’s a crime to speak for women’s safety.”

• In the wake of possible disruption of normal life because of the protest march, several educational institutions will either hold online classes on Tuesday or have declared a holiday.
• The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as…