Bangla Bandh: Security beefed up in Kolkata; bus drivers forced to wear helmets

Pic/PTI

Authorities have beefed up security in Kolkata in the wake of the 12-hour 'Bangla Bandh' called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in protest against the alleged police crackdown during the 'Nabanna Abhijan' protest rally in the state capital on Tuesday, reported news agency ANI.

The murder and alleged sexual assault of a female trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 caused national outrage and many rallies have been held in different states of the country.

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Police personnel deployed amid BJP's Bangla Bandh call

Dendup Sherpa, Additional Superintendent of Police (SP), Uttar Dinajpur, a district in West Bengal, told ANI, "Police personnel are deployed everywhere to maintain Law and Order in the state."

Anticipating violence amid Bangla Bandh, the administration has instructed drivers and conductors of the government buses in Kolkata to wear helmets.

Bus drives wear helmets amid Bangla Bandh in West Bengal

Following instruction from the administration, the drivers of North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) buses were seen wearing helmets, in Cooch Behar.

A bus driver told ANI, "We are wearing helmets because of the bandh today...The department has given us the helmets..."

Another bus diver told ANI, "I am a bit scared. It is for safety. It is a government order. The helmet is creating some sort of problem with driving."

On August 27, chaos broke out in the streets of Kolkata. Security personnel lobbed tear gas shells, used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse protestors on the Howrah Bridge marching towards the West Bengal State Secretariat Nabanna, amidst the row over the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case, reported ANI.

Protestors gathered at the Howrah Bridge, climbing atop police barricades and clashed with police personnel during the 'Nabanna Abhijan' protest march. They were seen breaking and dragging away the barricades that were erected in the Santragachi area, en route to the Secretariat.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the party had orchestrated the chaos, reported ANI.

"BJP's idea of a 'peaceful protest': Pelt stones and push barricades Severely injure the police Orchestrate extreme chaos and disrupt the law and order of the state. The 'Nabanna Abhiyan' conspired by the BJP is nothing short of a fatal attack on Bengal," the TMC posted on its official X handle on August 28.

The protests on Tuesday followed the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

(With inputs from ANI)