Miscreants vandalize Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital amid midnight protests against rape-murder of woman doctor

A group of miscreants stormed into the Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital premises during the intervening night of Aug 14-15, vandalized property, and pelted stones at cops. The policemen retaliated by firing teargas to disperse them, police said.

The incident took place amid midnight protests by women seeking justice for the woman doctor who was found murdered after being raped at the hospital last week. Police has arrested nine accused persons and the investigation is ongoing, reports said.

The miscreants roughly 40 in number disguising as protestors vandalized portions of the seminar hall, where the body of a woman doctor was found on Aug 9, according to police.

Some police officers were injured in the violence. A police vehicle and a few two-wheelers were also damaged.

"Police personnel deployed outside the hospital have been instructed to tackle the situation," a senior officer of Kolkata police told PTI.

The women protests began around 12 am, and spread across many areas in both small towns and big cities, including several historic places in Kolkata.

Vineet Goyal, Kolkata Police Commissioner reached the spot at around 2 am to assess the situation.
Doctors at RG Kar said that the emergency ward was ransacked and valuable medicines were destroyed and stolen. The miscreants even tried to barge into the MRI room and destroy it.

Meanwhile, MP Abhishek Banerjee said that he urged PC Goyal to "ensure that every individual responsible for violence is identified, held accountable, and made to face the law within the next 24 hours, regardless of their political affiliations.

"The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits. As a public representative, I just spoke with CPKolkata," he wrote on X.

"The demands of the protesting doctors are fair and justified. This is the minimum they should expect from the government. Their safety and security must be prioritised," Banerjee added.

BJP leader and leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the vandalism was committed by "TMC goons" under the instructions of party supremo Mamata Banerjee. "Mamata Banerjee has sent her TMC goons to the apolitical protest rally near RG Kar Medical College and Hospital,” Adhikari posted on X

“She thinks that she is the most shrewd person in the world and people won't be able to figure out her goons disguising as protestors would mix with the protestors and carry out vandalism in the hospital," Adhikari said in a post on X.

The Kolkata High Court on Aug 13 ordered transfer of the probe into the sensational case from Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).