Even as the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, (equivalent to Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code) in the Salt Lake Stadium area, huge numbers of supporters of Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Mohammedan SC clashed with police on EM Bypass as the football lovers were demanding justice for the victim of the RG Kar Medical College rape and murder incident. Traffic was disrupted on EM Bypass following the clash. Several club supporters were detained from the spot. The supporters alleged police resorted to lathicharge unprovoked on their peaceful gathering. Several protesters were allegedly injured.
Police, however, denied the claim. On Sunday afternoon, Bidhannagar Deputy Commissioner Anish Sarkar annou – nced during a Press conference that Section 163 of the BNSS would be enforced in the area from 4 p.m. to midnight. The Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate was prepared to block the march outside Yuva Bharati Stadium as they had previously announced the imposition of Section 163 outside Yuva Bharati. When the march arrived, police detained the protesters, leading to arguments with the supporters of the teams. As the number of marchers increased, so did the number of police officers. The police attempted to push the protesters further towards Bengal Chemicals.
Although some protesters moved, many refused to leave, causing some disruption. Police chased them to disperse the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan supporters. Those detained were taken to police station with prison vans. Kalyan Chaubey, president of the All India Football Federation arrived the spot and alleged women football lovers were beaten up by police. He also spoke to police. There were flag exchange at Yuva Bharati. Outside Yuva Bharati, supporters of the two teams were waving their respective club flags. East Bengal supporters were carrying Mohun Bagan flags, and Mohun Bagan supporters were carrying East Bengal flags. The protesters questioned why such heavy police deployment was necessary if the derby between the two teams was cancelled for security reasons.
They argued that the derby could have been held with fewer police officers. Protesters also demand justice for the RG Kar victim PGT. Supporters of Mohun Bagan and East Bengal chanted “We Want Justice.” They claimed they were protesting peacefully, without any weapons, and had no intention of creating unrest. Earlier a section of football fa ns had planned a protest ma rch outside the stadium at 5 p.m. on Sunday in res – po nse to the RG Kar incident. The Bidhannagar Police stated that they feared the march could lead to unrest. They had received confidential information that some miscreants might infiltrate the peaceful march with weapons and create disorder and disturbances. The police played an audio recording during the press conference to support this claim.
Sunday was supposed to feature the Durand Cup group stage match between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan. The match was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. However, it was announced on Saturday that the match had been cancelled due to concerns over the safety of the spectators. The police anticipated potential unrest in the gallery and stated that it would be impossible to deploy the necessary police force to ensure the safety of the 63,000 spectators in the current situation. This was the reason given by the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate during Sunday’s press conference for the match cancellation. Additionally, the police mentioned that they had received evidence suggesting that the football fans’ march near the stadium on Sunday could also lead to unrest.