In anticipation of the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest march by Paschimbanga Chhatra Samaj, a new student group, to the state secretariat to seek Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation over the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case, Kolkata has transformed into a fortress. The city has seen the deployment of about 6,000 Kolkata Police officers, and the area around Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat home is now under increased surveillance.
Four people have been arrested for planning to “orchestrate large-scale violence” during the Nabanna Abhijan, Kolkata Police said in a post on X.
There is three levels of security around Nabanna because, according to the police, there is evidence of a plot to cause chaos and disturbances during the protest march. Along the roadways leading to the state secretariat, which includes the offices of the chief minister and other senior ministries, barricades have been erected at 19 different locations.
Kolkata Police announced that it had detained four students who were reportedly preparing acts of violence and participating in a “conspiracy of murder and attempted murder” ahead of the ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ march. Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP had earlier claimed that the four student activists vanished after midnight.
There are already more than twenty locations with iron and aluminium barricades close to the state secretariat. To make it easier for the demonstrators to scale the buildings and cross over, police have also smeared oil on the barricades.
Along the roads leading to the West Bengal secretariat in Howrah, more than 6,000 police officers have been stationed. Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs), Rapid Action Force (RAF), and Heavy Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) are among the additional forces that have been called in from other areas.
The demonstrators’ movements are being tracked by robocops and drones. Additionally, tear gas and water cannons have been kept available. Additionally, anti-riot VAJRA trucks are prepared.
The protest march was deemed “illegal” by the West Bengal Police, who also claimed that they were not contacted or asked for permission to march in the direction of Nabanna.
