'Nabanna Abhijaan' march turns violent; BJP seeks Mamata's polygraph test

Clashes were reported at GT Road in Howrah Maidan area. The protestors were seen throwing stones and bricks at the security forces while the police resorted to lathi-charge and using water cannons

The mass rally ‘Nabanna Abhijaan’ organised on Tuesday by protestors in West Bengal seeking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation over the Kolkata case, turned violent hours after its inception. The situation escalated into clashes between the agitators and the police forces as the protestors tried to continue their march to the Bengal secretariat amid heavy security deployment.

Clashes were reported at GT Road in Howrah Maidan area and the protestors were seen throwing stones and bricks at the security forces while the police resorted to lathi-charge and using water cannons and tear gas to disperse protestors. Similar visuals emerged from the Hastings and MG Road area.

The issue also turned into a political slugfest with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party demanding that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should conduct a polygraph test for CM Mamata Banerjee.

During a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia condemned the police action on the protesting students and compared the situation to tearing the Constitution to shreds.

“...The CBI is investigating the case. It should conduct a polygraph test on Mamata Banerjee and the police commissioner (Vineet Goel) to ascertain the truth…,” Bhatia said, seeking CM’s immediate resignation over poor handling of the case. The agency has conducted the polygraph test of the arrested accused Sanjoy Roy.

What is the ‘Nabanna Abhijaan’ march?

The rally in Bengal has been organised by the student organisation ‘Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj’, and the dissident state government employees' platform ‘Sangrami Joutha Mancha’ over the incident of rape-murder of a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

Many police personnel were also injured in the clashes as the agitators breached barricades at some locations and counter-attacked the security forces.

The Supreme Court, which is also hearing the Kolkata case, had come down heavily on the Mamata government last week for lapses in the preliminary probe and questioned the role of the now-sacked principal of the college and the state police.