RG Kar Hospital Vandalism: Identifying Miscreants At 'Reclaim The Night' Protest

Days after a mob ransacked RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Kolkata Police have arrested at least 25 'miscreants' allegedly involved in the vandalism.

The mob entered the RG Kar Hospital campus - where protests against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor were underway - and wreaked damage to the demonstration site, vehicles and public property.

Photo Credit: PTI

They also vandalised the hospital's emergency department, nursing unit, and medicine store and damaged CCTVs.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has accused opposition parties of being behind the vandalism.

"Some outsiders who are political elements and want to foment trouble in Bengal - the Left and the BJP - have together unleashed this," she had said.

Who has been arrested?

Among those arrested by the West Bengal Police include Trinamool Congress workers, a few women, and delivery staff, among others, The Indian Express has reported.

Many of those arrested had left their home to join the protest against the rape and murder of the junior doctor, but ended up being accused of vandalism.

Soumik Das, among those arrested, is a gym instructor and a local TMC worker, according to paper. His family said that Das got swayed by emotions.

"He has not been home since the incident. Police came and asked us to bring him to the station, but he was eventually arrested from elsewhere. He is repentant; he got swayed by emotion," his aunt told the newspaper on condition of anonymity.

"Ask the party whether he worked for them or not. Ask anyone here - they will tell you that he was a party (TMC) worker. He was not alone; other youths also went with him," she added.

Another accused, Debashish Mondol, works as a delivery person at a local grocery store. His father said that his son went to join the protest but did not return.

He said his son went to join the candle march after dinner but didn't return. He said he saw the photo of him standing on a police barricade the next day.

"Police came on August 15 and I told them he was just a bystander. They did not listen. Later, we went to the police station and he surrendered," he said.

Tusi Haldar, a 19-year-old student, is also accused of vandalism by the West Bengal Police. A picture shared by the police of her shows her inside the emergency building of the hospital, with a bamboo in her hand.

Her mother said that the family had gone to join the protest, but somehow Tulsi Haldar was caught in a commotion.

The trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

The crime took place on the third-floor seminar hall of the chest department late at night and police later said multiple lacerations and wounds were found on her body.

While Sanjoy Roy, the main accused, has been arrested, investigating agencies have yet to rule out the involvement of others in the crime.

The crime has sparked widespread outrage and led to protests within and beyond the medical fraternity.