A large number of protesters had gathered outside Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on Wednesday. Late at night the crowd became furious and entered the hospital. The protesters not only vandalized the vehicles parked in the premises but also vandalized the emergency ward inside the hospital.
The mob also targeted police vehicles and pelted stones at policemen. The police resorted to lathi charge and used tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, in which several people were reported injured. Kolkata Police Commissioner has blamed the wrong media campaign for this.
‘The ruckus happened due to wrong media campaign’
Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal said, ‘Whatever happened here happened because of a wrong media campaign. This is a malicious media campaign. What did Kolkata Police not do? The police did everything in this case. We tried our best to satisfy the family but rumors are being spread.
Vineet Goyal said, ‘I am very angry. We didn’t do anything wrong. Kolkata Police has lost the trust of the people due to malicious media campaign. We have never said that there is only one person (accused), we have said that we are waiting for scientific evidence and it takes time. Just on the basis of rumours, I cannot arrest a young PG student. There is a lot of media pressure, I am very clear that we have done what is right.
‘False propaganda is being spread’
He said, ‘Now CBI is investigating it. We will provide full help to CBI. False propaganda is being spread. Kolkata Police Commissioner has appealed to the people to ‘please do not spread rumours’. We are investigating. We are continuously interrogating all the people.
The Commissioner said, ‘Additional CP was here on the first night and he personally interrogated everyone. I think this entire city is a loser, not Vineet Goyal… You should ask CBI what kind of work the officers have done in these four days and the city gave it to them. This is discouraging for them.
‘The person responsible should be identified within 24 hours’
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said, ‘Tonight the hooliganism and vandalism in RG Kar crossed all limits. As a public representative I just spoke to the Kolkata Police Commissioner and urged him to ensure that every person responsible for today’s violence is identified, held accountable and brought to justice within the next 24 hours Go, no matter which political party he belongs to. He said that the demands of the protesting doctors are fair and legitimate. They should expect the same from the government. Their safety should be given priority.
‘We had to run away to save our lives’
Hasan Mushtaq, a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College, said, ‘We were supposed to leave the protest site at 11 pm. But, there was a group of people outside the campus, they were raising slogans – ‘We want Justice’, but they were not leaving from there.
He told, ‘The crowd became furious and they were trying to enter the campus. Suddenly they entered inside and started vandalizing. We had already asked our women’s team to leave from there. As soon as he left, the crowd broke the barricade and entered inside and we had to run away to save our lives.