Kolkata, Oct 15 (IANS) A senior minister of the West Bengal cabinet and a top official of Kolkata Police faced massive public protests on Tuesday evening from the public over allegations of creating obstructions for the human-chain protests by the doctors christened “Droh- Carnival” against the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.
The tension broke out as the vehicle of the state fire services minister Sujit Bose suddenly arrived at the human-chain protest and started moving through that lane.
The doctors and common people participating in the protest programmes protested against it. However, as alleged by the protesting doctors, the vehicle with the minister himself sitting inside kept on moving, which irked the protesters further.
Some of the protesters banged the rear side of the vehicle. Soon a huge police contingent led by the deputy commissioner (central division) of Calcutta Police Indira Mukherjee reached the spot.
Her presence irked the protestors further and they started shouting “Go Back” slogans surrounding Mukherjee and her accompanying cops. “The driver of the minister’s vehicle was driving quite recklessly and could have caused an accident anytime,” said a protester participating at “Droh-Carnival.”
The minister, however, refuted the allegations and claimed that there was an unprovoked attack on his vehicle by a section of the protesters. “Even glass bottles were thrown towards my vehicle. Everyone has the right to democratic and peaceful protest. But such hooliganism is simply unacceptable. Our men could have retaliated. But since the festival mood is still continuing I did not want to prolong the matter,” Bose said.
While the “Droh-Carnival” was being organised at Rani Rashmoni Road in central Kolkata, a parallel carnival of Durga idol immersion organised by the West Bengal government was going on at Red Road. Like previous years, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her cabinet colleagues and celebrities from the Bengali silver screen world were present at the second carnival.
The city police had initially denied permission for the “Droh-Carnival” and even imposed prohibitory orders on the entire route of the protest rally. However, on Tuesday after, the Calcutta High Court granted permission for “Droh-Carnival” and also dismissed the prohibitory orders by police.
