NEW DELHI, Aug 27
The West Bengal Police, which called the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ march illegal, has heavily fortified the premises of the state secretariat, claiming that it anticipates the march to turn violent. This comes as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the secretariat on Tuesday.
The ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ march is being held seeking the resignation of the chief minister in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata.
The police have put up six-foot-tall barricades around the Nabanna to prevent the protesters from entering the building. The barricades have been welded together and dug deep into the ground at four places on Kona Expressway and other approach roads to the secretariat so that the protesters cannot apply force to push them down.
The guard rails have also been greased. The police have also deployed drones above the state secretariat to keep an eye on the marchers. Authorities have also declared Nabanna as a restricted area as prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS are in force. Section 163 prevents the assembly of five or more people.
The police have also lowered containers using cranes in different parts of the city, College Street and AJC Bose Road, to stop the protesters. Containers have already been dropped at College Street and AJC Bose Road. Vajra vehicles, water cannons, and Riot Control Force have also been deployed in the area. Over 2,000 police personnel would be dotting various approach points to Nabanna who would be led by four ADGs, 13 DIGs and 15 SP-ranked officers. Traffic movement at both Kolkata and Howrah ends has also been severely restricted.
While the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal police condemn the rally as a “conspiracy” to create public disorder, the protesters under the recently-formed student organisation Paschim Banger Chhatra Samaj have claimed that the march will be peaceful.
Row over missing students
The Police also refuted Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari’s claim that four student activists were “missing”, stating they were arrested for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy of murder as well as attempted murder. The police said that the four men were reportedly planning to “orchestrate large-scale violence” during ‘Nabanna Abhijan’.
This came as Adhikari alleged that four student activists of the saffron party, who were scheduled to arrive at the Howrah station, were missing from midnight.
The BJP leader also approached the Calcutta High Court seeking clarification from the police.
