The allegation of RG Kar victim’s mother that police had beaten her up during the ‘March to Nabanna’ programme on Saturday will be investigated, city Police Commissioner Manoj Verma said on Sunday.
“The allegation is that she was beaten. Whether this allegation is true or false, we will investigate. If she was beaten, then who did it would also be investigated,” he said.
In another development, BJP MLA and Chief Opposition Whip in the West Bengal Assembly Shankar Ghosh has written to the OC Park Street police station, asking to file FIR against Verma and others for disrespecting the National Flag and violating the Flag Code of India during the ‘March to Nabanna’ protest on Saturday.
Taking the issue on X on Sunday afternoon, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said, “The world has witnessed the brutal oppression inflicted by Mamata's police yesterday on the activists of the 'Nabanna Chalo' movement."
"This Manoj Verma and his police force did not even spare the national flag from insult. Not only did they disgrace the national flag by trampling it underfoot, but when a nationalist, patriotic brother, unable to bear this dishonor, went to respectfully pick it up from the ground, the police under CP Manoj Verma’s leadership specifically targeted him and mercilessly attacked him with batons.”
“I strongly protest against this anti-national incident that occurred yesterday,” the post added.
On Sunday morning Verma went to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata to visit the police personnel who got injured in the scuffle on Saturday.
Later, he was asked if the RG Kar victim's mother wanted to lodge a complaint, would the police go to the hospital to take her complaint?
“If the complaint comes, we will definitely investigate. Even if we do not receive a complaint, we (Kolkata Police) will investigate suo-moto. The investigation has already started,” he replied, while terming the incident ‘untoward’.
The ‘March to Nabanna’ programme in Kolkata on Saturday, called for demanding justice for the RG Kar victim marked by scuffles between the participants and police in different places, which left the victim’s mother with injury before she got admitted to a private hospital on EM Bypass.
The mother of the RG Kar victim claimed that in the scuffle, her 'shankha' (traditional conch shell bangle) was broken and she sustained a head injury.
She also alleged that four to five police personnel manhandled her during the scuffle between police and protesters.
“The police shoved me and pinned me to the ground. They broke my 'shankha' and I sustained injury on my forehead,” she had said on Saturday.
Adhikari had on Saturday visited the hospital to see her.
“Her injury is quite serious. A CT scan has been done. An MRI has been done. Abhaya's (the victim of the RG Kar) father has also been beaten up,” Adhikari told on Saturday evening, while claiming that about 100 BJP workers were injured in police action.
However, on Sunday the victim's mother was discharged from the hospital. She left for home in an ambulance at around 3 pm on Sunday. She was accompanied by her husband and other family members. According to hospital sources, her physical condition is currently stable. The swelling in the area of the forehead injury has reduced. She has been given an antibiotic injection. She has been advised to consult a neurologist later, according to hospital sources.
Meanwhile, responding to a specific question on the injury to RG Kar victim’s mother on Sunday, Verma said, “We are investigating from all angles. CCTV footage is being watched. It is not possible for us to say anything right now without seeing everything.”
“She must have been 'injured'. That is sad. But why did it happen, how did it happen, is being investigated,” he added.
The Kolkata Police informed that five of their personnel were injured during the protest march on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a total of seven FIRs have been lodged by the Kolkata Police and the Howrah Police. BJP leaders like Ashok Dinda, Agnimitra Paul, Kaustav Bagchi were named in the FIRs for obstructing the police personnel on duty and threatening them, sources said.
