Kolkata rape-murder: 6000 police personnel, water cannon deployed today amid tension over 'Nibna Abhijan'

Security has been beefed up in Kolkata over claims of possible disruption during the 'Nibna Abhijan' rally or march to the Nabna (state secretariat) of students demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of 31 in Kolkata on Tuesday. . A one-year trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier this month.

Kolkata police have deployed more than 6,000 personnel on city streets since 8 am, kept water cannons ready, and set up at least 19 barricade points. The state has put 26 district collectors in charge to monitor the situation.

Police will also use drones to monitor the rally. However, the police say that no permission was taken to hold the rally.

The march to the Bengal State Secretariat, Nabana, was called by separate unregistered students' organization Pasam Banga Chhatra Samaj (West Bengal Students Community) and Sangrimi Jotha Mancha (Joint Platform of Struggle), an organization of state civil servants. have been protesting for a long time demanding that their DAs be made equal to their central government counterparts.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that four student workers who were distributing food to volunteers at Howrah station went missing after midnight. The saffron party said that if anything happens to the students, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be held responsible.

Here are the key developments for March.

• In view of the possible disruption to normal life due to the protest march, many educational institutions will either conduct online classes on Tuesday or have declared a holiday.
• State police have called the planned rallies, which have gained support mainly on social media platforms, as “illegal” and “unauthorized”.
• Police said they have taken necessary precautions to address concerns about possible law and order situation during the march.
• According to the Kolkata Police, no permission has been taken yet to hold the rally.
• Addressing reporters in Nabana, ADG (law and order) Manoj Verma said that the police had received reliable intelligence that miscreants were mixing with the protesters and during the rally. Attempts will be made to spread violence and chaos on a large scale.
• The government has already imposed prohibitory orders near Nabana under Section 163 of the BNSS to prevent gatherings of five or more people.
• Terming the rally as a “conspiracy” to create chaos on the streets, the Trinamool Congress released some alleged videos of BJP leaders from Ghatal in Pachham Mednipur district planning to incite violence at the rally. The two leaders were detained by the police for questioning.
• Meanwhile, in a video message released by the Raj Bhavan late on Monday evening, Governor CV Anand Bose urged the state government not to use force to stop the students from holding the rally.
• The Supreme Court on August 22 said that peaceful protests over the incident will not be disturbed or disturbed by the West Bengal government. However, the court clarified that it did not prohibit the state government from exercising statutory powers.
• However, student organizations denied the claims of obstruction. Chhatra Samaj spokesperson Sayan Lahri said, “The claims of the TMC and the police are baseless. We want to raise our demands peacefully. The rallies, which will start from several places and proceed towards Nibana,” Lahri claimed. Gay, organized by a non-political platform not affiliated with BJP, RSS, or ABVP.
• Lahri noted, “We have informed the police about the rally through email and have discussed it with senior officers several times. Allegations of illegality of our rally are baseless. Later in the evening ADG, South Bengal Supratim Sarkar told reporters that the police rejected the requests of both the organizations which were sent to the police at 11 am.
• Later in the evening, ADG, South Bengal Supratim Sarkar told reporters that the police rejected the requests of the two organizations which were sent to the police at 11 pm.
• “We have received separate mails from both the organizations when we held a press conference earlier in the day. There was only a notification from 'Chhatra Samaj' about the program without any details about the rally. Nor was any permission taken so it was rejected,” said Sarkar.
• “The second application had details of their expected turnout and other relevant information but it was also rejected for two reasons. First, a significant number of students will appear for their scheduled UGC-NET exams on Tuesday. , and secondly, because of the existing prohibitory orders in the area, no one will be allowed to hold any gatherings around Nabana.
• “Since the movement was organized through a social media campaign, we cannot give an exact estimate,” Lahri said. In a late evening development, the police moved a group of people who had gathered near Nabana which is located in Howrah.

(With input from Kamalika Sengupta and agencies in Kolkata)