Visuals from the site where mob valdalised everything (Source: BT)
Amid the social media-driven ‘Reclaim The Night’ protest seeking justice for a 31-year-old trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital, unidentified miscreants launched a violent attack on the medical college late Thursday night, August 15. Shortly after midnight, a mob besieged the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, targeting the ongoing protests by doctors demanding justice. They allegedly attacked the protesting doctors in the hospital.
Videos that surfaced on social media depicted the mob vandalising hospital property, damaging police vehicles, and physically assaulting doctors present at the scene. According to police reports, around 40 individuals, allegedly posing as protestors, entered the hospital grounds, causing significant damage and hurling stones at police personnel. The police were compelled to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.
A police vehicle and several two-wheelers were also damaged during the incident. Some officers sustained injuries in the chaos. “We have an adequate number of personnel posted outside the hospital, and they have been instructed to tackle the situation accordingly,” a senior officer of Kolkata Police told news agency PTI.
The ‘Reclaim The Night’ campaign, which gained traction through social media, began at 11:55 pm, coinciding with Independence Day celebrations. The protests quickly spread across Kolkata and other areas. Despite a significant police presence, the mob carried out their attacks without hesitation. Reports indicated that the attackers broke into the emergency ward of the hospital, destroying furniture and medicine supplies.
In response, the police deployed lathi-charges and fired tear gas shells to control the mob. “Several police personnel guarding the agitation site and the hospital were injured by brickbats,” a police officer told media.
According to the protesting doctors, the violence lasted about an hour. A young woman told Republic Bangla, “They are beating us continuously. They will beat us. We came here for the protests.” Junior doctor Aniket Maity reported, “We could see the troublemakers assembling outside the hospital much before the attack started and requested the police to take steps but they did nothing. When the rampage started, the policemen rushed inside the hospital premises to take shelter.”
A trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Hasan Mushtaq says, “We were to leave at 11 PM for a protest march (from the protesting site). But, there was a group of people outside the campus, they were raising the slogan – ‘We want justice’, but they weren’t moving. The mob turned angry and they were trying to enter the campus. Suddenly, they started coming and vandalising. We have already asked our female team to leave and as they leave the mob broke the barricade and entered and we have to escape to save our lives. Even though we are doing everything peacefully, they came from outside and have done this…”
Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal criticised online media and social media accounts for allegedly inciting the attack, stating, “Unfounded information and false allegations were being constantly spread on social media. This led to the attack. I am saying as commissioner of police that no effort was made at any level to shield anyone. We promptly arrested the prime suspect. We said there could be others and investigations were on. But there was a continuous effort to malign the police.”
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of orchestrating the attack. He tweeted, “Mamata Banerjee has sent her TMC goons to the apolitical Protest Rally near RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. She thinks that she is the most shrewd person in the whole world and people won’t be able to figure out the cunning plan that her goons appearing as protestors would mix with the crowd and carry out vandalism inside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.” He further alleged, “They were given safe passage by the Police, who either ran away or looked the other way so that these lumpens would enter the hospital premises and destroy areas containing crucial evidence so that it doesn’t get picked up by the CBI.”
Trinamool Congress general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee condemned the violence and urged swift action. “The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits. As a public representative, I just spoke with CPKolkata,” he posted on X.
Pronoy Das, a security guard at the hospital, described the scene: “Around 1 am last night when about 500-1000 people came here…We locked the gate but they broke it down. We went to another gate, but they broke down that too. They were too many, we were 10-12 people and the Police. So we were no match. They barged in and vandalised the property. They have damaged everything, from computers to medicines. They damaged even the CCTV cameras.”
The tragic case of the trainee doctor, whose semi-naked body was discovered on August 9 in the hospital seminar hall, has prompted significant legal and investigative actions. A civic volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime, and the Calcutta High Court has ordered the transfer of the investigation from Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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