Sukanta Majumdar, state president and Union minister of state along with other BJP workers were arrested by the Kolkata Police today, following a protest rally.
Tension arose over a sit-in protest in response to the incident at R G Kar Hospital. Police forcibly dragged BJP leaders and activists into vehicles at Shyambazar. At one point, a scuffle broke out between the police and BJP workers. The detained BJP workers alleged that the police obstructed their peaceful protest.
It was decided that the protest would take place near Shyambazar No. 1 Metro Station, close to R G Kar Hospital. The state president of BJP, Sukanta Majumdar, was also there to join the protest. “The state government constantly tried to save the culprits involved in the R G Kar Medical College rape and murder incident. Chief minister herself walked today in an attempt to derail protests,” he said before his arrest.
However, the BJP earlier claimed that while the stage for the protest was set up on Wednesday night, it was dismantled on Thursday. When they attempted to set up the stage again at the same spot, the police obstructed them. At that time, Asansol South BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul and Rajya Sabha MP Shamik Bhattacharya were present at the scene. Later, Roopa Ganguly also arrived. Agnimitra and others alleged that the state government is trying to shield the culprits involved in the R G Kar incident and is using force to suppress those who are questioning the incident.
Later, BJP leader and actor Rudranil Ghosh, along with BJP MLA Ashok Kirtaniya from Bongaon North, arrived at Shyambazar. Rudranil stated, “The government is destroying evidence to protect the criminals. We demand justice for the R G Kar incident. We will not leave the streets until we get justice.” Subsequently, Rudranil and several others were detained by the police and forcibly loaded into police vans.