West Bengal ADG police (law & order) Manoj Kumar Verma called the Nabanna Abhijan rally scheduled for tomorrow to reach Nabanna illegal and an attempt to incite widespread unrest in Kolkata.

He said, “Nabanna is a restricted area. If any programme is organised here then the organisers should put a request to the police officials and the police will decide after considering the case. So far, no organisation has applied to hold a protest near Nabanna. This is a restricted zone and if anyone needs to organise a protest then they first need to apply for permission from the police…We have very specific inputs that some miscreants might try to create a situation of unrest there (near Nabanna). Tomorrow, an exam is being conducted by NTA, we will ensure that neither aspirants nor the general public are inconvenienced.”

He further said that the general public should not fall into the trap and they should avoid it.

Additional director general, south Bengal Supratim Sarkar said, “In the name of West Bengal Students’ Society, a Nabanna Abhijan’ rally was called. We have never heard of the existence of any name of the West Bengal Students’ Association. Many committees exist but there is no organisation by this name. Tomorrow there is the UGC NET exam. Such a rally could obstruct the conduct of the exam. One of the organisers met with a political leader yesterday in a 5-star hotel.”

He said that there is speculation that during the Nabanna Abhijan rally, some miscreants could attempt to sabotage the rally.

“There are reports that women and children would be kept in front and unrest would be created from the back so that there is violence and police are forced to use force. We are trying to find out the vested interests in it. In social media, a lot of provoking videos are circulating. The safety of the common man is our priority. The organisers have not followed any guidelines. The details were not provided such as how many people would be present and from where they would come as prescribed by the high court,” he further said.

He said that police had already directed that many areas have been allowed in Kolkata to conduct peaceful protests over what happened at R G Kar Medical College but Nabanna is a restricted area.

“Here Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 144 of the CrPC) is in place. But no information has been given. This is illegal. The SC had allowed peaceful protests but the court had not barred the state from exercising such lawful powers as entrusted in terms of law,” he added.

The brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor on the hospital premises sparked outrage all over the country. The incident shook the entire nation, and since then several protests have been staged demanding justice for the victim.