KOLKATA: The vandalisation of RG Kar hospital on the night of August 14-15 was “premeditated“, Kolkata police said Saturday after arresting five more people, taking the number to 30.
Police sources said the attackers had travelled in groups – numbering between five and 10 -not only from neighbourhood pockets like Belgachia and Dum Dum but also from clusters like Kamarhati, Barrackpore and Madhyamgram in the north and Behala and Jadavpur in the south of the city, 15 to 16km away.
“We have reasons to believe it (vandalisation) was organised since there was a specific movement (from Canal Road side) at exactly the same time when the police barrier was initially being pulled down. Our reinforcements were stopped. As of now, not one accused claims to know another. Yet we know of Whatsapp groups that were specifically created to arrange ‘Reclaim the Night’ (protests) but kept discussing the Bangladesh model. There was a clear attempt to hijack the unique protest,” said a police source.
Police have set up 10 teams for raids to nab the suspects. “It seems that the planners knew the protesters were agitated enough to take the chaos inside the hospital. We are questioning the accused and will find out soon,” the police source said.
Another officer explained how the ruckus was timed with the protests. “We have found links when young men had travelled from one protest spot to another, converging at RG Kar as their final destination. Most of them hail from poor families. Several admins of ‘Reclaim the Night’ groups had even brought a few of them to the venue,” said the officer.
On Saturday, police shared more photos of the accused, one of whom tried to shave his hair to avoid detection and arrest. Some, like Tousif and Rohit Saha, were nabbed with help from social media users. Two more such suspects have been identified from posts. The number of arrests where social media users helped cops stands at 13. Sources said some youths from ultra-Left outfits were also on the police radar. These suspects, they claimed, had played a key role that led to Abhishek Gupta, DC (north) who was at the hospital, being injured in the mayhem.
Police sources said the attackers had travelled in groups – numbering between five and 10 -not only from neighbourhood pockets like Belgachia and Dum Dum but also from clusters like Kamarhati, Barrackpore and Madhyamgram in the north and Behala and Jadavpur in the south of the city, 15 to 16km away.
“We have reasons to believe it (vandalisation) was organised since there was a specific movement (from Canal Road side) at exactly the same time when the police barrier was initially being pulled down. Our reinforcements were stopped. As of now, not one accused claims to know another. Yet we know of Whatsapp groups that were specifically created to arrange ‘Reclaim the Night’ (protests) but kept discussing the Bangladesh model. There was a clear attempt to hijack the unique protest,” said a police source.
Police have set up 10 teams for raids to nab the suspects. “It seems that the planners knew the protesters were agitated enough to take the chaos inside the hospital. We are questioning the accused and will find out soon,” the police source said.
Another officer explained how the ruckus was timed with the protests. “We have found links when young men had travelled from one protest spot to another, converging at RG Kar as their final destination. Most of them hail from poor families. Several admins of ‘Reclaim the Night’ groups had even brought a few of them to the venue,” said the officer.
On Saturday, police shared more photos of the accused, one of whom tried to shave his hair to avoid detection and arrest. Some, like Tousif and Rohit Saha, were nabbed with help from social media users. Two more such suspects have been identified from posts. The number of arrests where social media users helped cops stands at 13. Sources said some youths from ultra-Left outfits were also on the police radar. These suspects, they claimed, had played a key role that led to Abhishek Gupta, DC (north) who was at the hospital, being injured in the mayhem.