Commissioner of city police Manoj Verma on Monday said that necessary action would be taken against the agitating junior doctors for holding a sit-in protest at Esplanade, violating Section 163 in the area.

A day after withdrawing 58-day-long cease-work in government medical colleges and hospitals across West Bengal from Friday night, agitating junior doctors have been protesting since Saturday night at Esplanade.

While attending a Kolkata Police (KP) programme in connection with the Durga Puja festival Mr Verma told reporters today, “Police would take appropriate steps.” But he didn’t divulge any details about the steps to be taken by police.

He replied when reporters asked him about what steps would be taken by the KP.

On Saturday, Lalbazar, KP headquarters, while responding to an email sent by the agitators on Friday night seeking permission for their sit-in-protest, had denied them permission for their programme.

According to the email sent by the KP, sit-in-protest won’t be allowed at Esplanade, a busy crowded area for shopping particularly on the eve of the Durga Puja festival. There would be traffic disruptions in the Esplanade, one of the busy shopping hubs in the city, if such an event is allowed there, police had informed the agitators.

Demanding fulfillment of 10-point demands like justice for the R G Kar Medical College Hospital incident and safety and security for doctors, nurses, patients and others inside state-run healthcare facilities, and removal of Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary in charge of health department, six agitating doctors under West Bengal Junior Doctors Front (WBJDF) started fast unto death programme while other protesters are simultaneously doing sit-in-protest at the same venue.

The junior doctors alleged that police are not cooperating with them and instead harassing the decorators and driver of van carrying bio-toilets for the protest site.

“Police are preventing drivers of vehicles from carrying bio-toilets for us at the protest site. Police have threatened them to cancel their licenses if they bring bio-toilets. Our colleagues, who are getting weaker with a fall in blood sugar levels because of fasting for about 48 hours since Saturday, are being forced to go to bio-toilets installed far away from the venue. We have somehow managed to arrange two bio-toilets so far,” said protesters on the spot.

The junior doctors with support of their seniors stack to their decision to continue their sit-in protesting against police highhandedness.