Kolkata, Aug 9 (PTI) A section of protestors taking part in a march to the West Bengal secretariat ‘Nabanna’ to mark the completion of one year of the brutal rape and murder of an on-duty doctor inside the state-run RG Kar hospital reached Santragachi in Howrah district on Saturday and attempted to breach the iron wall barricades set up by the city police there.
As part of the ‘Nabanna Chalo Abhiyan’, the protestors raised slogans for justice for the RG Kar victim and voiced their resolve to reach the state secretariat, irrespective of the blockades put up by the police.
“The police can fire upon us, but we are determined to reach ‘Nabanna’, where the state government must answer why justice has not been delivered to Abhaya (RG Kar victim) even after one year,” a protestor was heard saying.
Amid constant alerts over loudspeakers by the police urging protestors to abide by the Calcutta High Court order to maintain law and order, demonstrators were seen scaling the 10-ft-high barricades in their attempts to breach them.
Some agitators were also seen using blunt instruments to break the iron walls and carve openings within them to ensure a cross over.
The protestors were seen carrying the Tricolour besides posters and banners demanding justice for the victim and the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Massive police deployments, along with RAF personnel and even water cannons, have been made at all the strategic points where the progress of the agitators is to be halted.
The parents of the deceased doctor urged citizens to join the march to Nabanna, while Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, appealed to BJP workers to participate in the procession without any party flag.
Adhikari, accompanied by a section of BJP MLAs, meanwhile, joined the victim’s parents at the Dorina Crossing in Esplanade in central Kolkata sans BJP’s banners, flags and other party insignia.
“The Mamata Banerjee administration is fearing this massive crowd which has gathered in protest,” Adhikari said.
Crowds were found swelling at both the assembly points in Howrah and Kolkata, with the state police not allowing the protestors to reach anywhere close to the West Bengal secretariat.
“The police are not cooperating with us despite the high court permitting us to hold a peaceful protest rally,” the father of the victim alleged.
“The police tried to prevent people from reaching the assembly point by stopping their vehicles at various points en route,” he added. PTI SMY BDC
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