Security in Kolkata was heightened on Wednesday, with police personnel deployed across the city to prevent violence following the 12-hour ‘Bengal Bandh’ called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The strike has been organized in response to alleged police brutality during Tuesday’s ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ protest rally in the state capital.
The protest follows widespread outrage over the murder and alleged sexual assault of a female trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, sparking demonstrations across the country.
In a sign of the administration’s concerns about potential violence, bus drivers and conductors in Kolkata were instructed to wear helmets while on duty. Drivers of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) in Cooch Behar were seen complying with this directive.
“We are wearing helmets because of the bandh today. The department has given us the helmets,” one bus driver said.
Another driver added, “I am a bit scared. But it is a government order. The helmet is causing some difficulties while driving.”
Dendup Sherpa, Additional Superintendent of Police for Uttar Dinajpur district, said that police personnel have been deployed across the state to maintain law and order.
On Tuesday, security forces used tear gas, water cannons, and lathi charges to disperse protestors on the Howrah Bridge as they marched toward the West Bengal State Secretariat, Nabanna.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused the BJP of orchestrating the violence. In a post on X, the TMC said, “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”.