KOLKATA: Junior doctors march to the Lalbazar police headquarters on Monday to demand the resignation of police commissioner Vineet Goyal.
The demand for Goyal’s resignation was made in the aftermath of the vandalism inside RG Kar on August 14-15 night. Even then it was only one of several demands. The call for the march suggests it has become the foremost now.
The agitating doctors also raised slogans, seeking exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar hospital.
The medics alleged inadequate steps by the police during its probe into the August 9 rape-murder of the young doctor, before the investigation was handed over to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.
The medics, who started an impromptu sit-in on BB Ganguly Street around 5 pm, demanded that Goyal come and meet them there.
Meanwhile, the police said a 20-member delegation of the doctors can come and meet the commissioner or any other senior officer.The stalemate continued as both sides remained adamant.
Junior doctors did not break any cordon despite elaborate police arrangements being made near Lalbazar.
The protesters also carried a replica of a spine and red roses, contending that these were to emphasise the duty of the police force to protect citizens. They claimed that if Goyel resigned they would withdraw their casework.
Later in the night, the junior doctors sat on the streets and played Bengali songs and demanded justice for RG Kar victim and the resignation of Goyel.
The junior doctors, who were seen carrying the national flag and placards with slogans seeking justice and protection, broke into celebrations on the street as news of the arrest of ex-principal of R G Kar hospital Sandip Ghosh by the CBI reached them.
The junior doctors had earlier said they were not demanding the chief minister’s resignation unlike some of the political parties that have been part of the street protests.
Police put up guardrails on B B Ganguly Street leading to Lalbazar from College Square in north Kolkata to stop the rally from reaching the police headquarters.
According to the junior doctors, the protesting doctors are saying that Kolkata Police failed to prevent the mob attack on RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on the eve of Independence Day. Since Goyal heads the force, the doctors are demanding his resignation.
“Also, our doubts about the probe by Kolkata Police into the rape and murder of our colleague have been vindicated by comments of the CBI lawyer at the Supreme Court. The CBI counsel said the crime scene had altered by the time the agency had taken over the probe. The police commissioner has to take responsibility for that, too,” a junior doctor said.
The police, however, have said the crime scene having been altered is not the same as evidence having been tampered with.
The protesting doctors are also demanding that the health department suspend former RG Kar principal Dr Sandip Ghosh, arrest everyone involved in the rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor and the end of the threat culture at medical colleges.
They, however, demanded the rally be allowed to move further ahead towards the police headquarters, saying that it was stopped at a distance from Lalbazar.
They were also seen carrying the national flag and placards with slogans seeking justice and protection for all, including doctors.
Some placards displayed the photo of Goyal with texts calling for his resignation. An effigy of the police commissioner was also burnt by the protesters. Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has called a special session today to pass a Bill proposing capital punishment for convicts in rape and murder cases. The Bill will be named 'Aparajita Women and Child ( West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill 2024'
The Bill comes in the wake of the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
(With additional inputs from PTI)
