Kolkata: During the junior doctors’ ongoing protest against the August 9 rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor, which the Central Bureau of Investigation began investigating earlier in the day on court orders, a sizable group of unidentified men broke into Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital at around 12.40 am on Thursday and destroyed hospital property at will, according to police and the agitators.
SOS 🛑 EMERGENCY! ;#BengalHorror
Avg 100-200 Goons of MOB are attacking in #RGKAR MEDICAL COLLEGESeveral Doctors have trapped .
Worrisome condition in #kolkata@KolkataPolice @MamataOfficial#RGKAR @PMOIndia @narendramodi #JusticeForMoumita pic.twitter.com/v46jr9Bygx
— Indian Doctor🇮🇳 (@Indian__doctor) August 14, 2024
Hospital Vandalism: Unidentified Men Wreak Havoc at RG Kar Medical CollegeÂ
Even medications were destroyed in the emergency department, which was not spared by the attackers. The crowd reportedly came from multiple sources, and the police used baton charges and tear gas shells to break them up at intervals. According to officials, several police vehicles were vandalized.
A police officer stationed nearby stated, “Several police personnel guarding the agitation site and the hospital were injured by brickbats,” on the condition of anonymity. The number of workers hurt and the number of miscreants apprehended were not disclosed by the police department until 4 a.m.. The furious junior doctors claimed that during the roughly hour-long rampage, none of them suffered any major injuries.
Police Response: Baton Charges and Tear Gas Used to Disperse Aggressors
The vandalism immediately had an impact on the nighttime protests against women’s safety in the state and the death of a 31-year-old junior doctor that were organized in Kolkata and other districts throughout West Bengal. Gheraoing the Jadavpur police station, students and people participated in an agitation outside Jadavpur University, which is situated around 10 km away from R G Kar Hospital. At around 1.20 in the morning, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal hurried to RG Kar Hospital. They summoned more forces as well.
“We asked the police to intervene when we saw the troublemakers gathering outside the hospital well in advance of the attack, but they did nothing.” Aniket Maity, a junior physician, told the media that as soon as the policeman’s rampage began, they hurried inside the hospital’s grounds to seek refuge. The police commissioner immediately placed the blame for the attack on social media and certain online news sources, claiming that the attack was sparked by negative propaganda about the murder of the 31-year-old doctor.
Doctors Under Siege: Junior Physicians Seek Refuge Amid Nighttime Attack
“False accusations and misinformation were being disseminated on social media all the time. The attack resulted from this. As police commissioner, let me state unequivocally that no attempt was made, at any level, to intimidate anyone. We quickly took the main suspect into custody. We warned that investigations were ongoing and that there might be more. However, Goyal informed the journalists at the scene that there was an ongoing attempt to discredit the cops.
The primary suspect in the crime, which occurred on August 9 between three and five in the morning at the hospital’s chest department’s third-floor seminar hall, was Sanjay Roy (31), a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police. Roy was taken into custody on August 10. A Delhi CBI team came to the crime scene and spoke with the suspects.
Social Media Sparks Violence: Police Blame Propaganda for Hospital Rampage
“My men have been gathering evidence day and night.” I am deeply hurt by what has transpired. There is a legal provision in place if the CBI can demonstrate that we have destroyed any evidence. We are an accountable power. “I firmly believe that we did not shield anyone,” Goyal declared.
However, social media campaigns are claiming other kinds of bone injuries (inflicted on the sufferer) that are not supported by scientific data. Furthermore, it is being said that a Mahapatra with political ties is responsible for the crime. What is this? Mahapatra is one of the interns; nonetheless, he is from a little town. His dad teaches in a school.