Left students clash with police following protest over Kolkata student rape case -OxBig News Network

Clashes broke out between police and members of SFI and DYFI — Left wing student and youth organisations — after security personnel exercised force to remove them from protesting outside Kasba police station over the alleged gang-rape of a student on a South Kolkata college campus.

Multiple agitators were reportedly injured in the scuffle and police said an unknown number of demonstrators were detained and taken to Lalbazar, headquarters of the city police.

Nasty scenes of scuffles and fistfights broke out as a large contingent of lathi-wielding police and RAF personnel, led by Jadavpur Division DCP Bidisha Kalita Dasgupta, tried to remove agitators who had blocked Rajdanga Main Road in Kasba, disrupting traffic while attempting to lay siege to the Kasba police station.

Demonstrators were seen trying to grab batons from the hands of policemen. The protestors also tried to snatch some of their colleagues from the grips of police personnel when they were being apprehended.

Police also chased the protestors over significant distances on the road to disperse them.

The protestors had gathered in large numbers outside the Kasba police station where a student of the local South Calcutta Law College was allegedly gang-raped on the institution premises on Wednesday.

Earlier, DC Jadavpur, in a post on X, asserted that the police acted decisively on the accused perpetrators of the crime and was carrying out the investigation with utmost seriousness.

“Kasba police responded swiftly and decisively to a complaint of sexual assault involving a female law student in Kasba. An FIR was registered without delay, and within 12 hours, all three accused named in the complaint were apprehended. They have been remanded to police custody till July 1,” the DC wrote.

“The investigation is being pursued with utmost seriousness, professionalism and sensitivity. We appeal to the public and digital platforms to refrain from circulating unverified or misleading content that could hinder the judicial process or compromise the dignity of those involved,” she added.