‘Some Carried Bats, Hammers; Conspiracy Not Ruled Out’: 25 Arrested For Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital Vandalism

The Kolkata Police has arrested 25 people so far for vandalising the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata on Thursday, amid midnight protests by women across West Bengal, condemning the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the hospital’s seminar hall on August 9.

Police officials told CNN-News18 that they are actively investigating the possibility of this being a pre-planned attack. “Whether this was a conspiracy, or if someone sent them or they came up with a plan – we will know only after thorough questioning of those arrested. We are not ruling out the conspiracy angle. It is very much a part of our investigation,” Additional CP Murlidhar Sharma told CNN-News18.

The emergency ward, nursing station, medicine store and parts of the outpatient department of the hospital were vandalised by the miscreants. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Thursday evening that two floors of its emergency ward have been destroyed, medicines looted and infrastructure and equipment severely damaged.

REACHED IN SMALLER GROUPS

Officials told CNN-News18 that those arrested seem to have reached the hospital in smaller groups of six-10 from localities such as Howrah or Dumdum.

“Many had walked to the hospital. When we asked them why the indulged in vandalism, they had no straight answer. Most said they had heard about the rape-murder case and felt bad about it, so they reached the hospital. Once there, it seems mob mentality took over and everything was vandalised,” a probe official told CNN-News18.

WHO WERE THE VANDALS? DRIVERS TO DELIVERY BOYS, CAME WITH TOOLS

While Kolkata Police did not give a direct answer about the political affiliations of the vandals, the officials said the sequence of events suggest that it was a well thought-out plan. The profiles of those arrested range from driver to delivery boy to battery shop worker, officials said.

Scrutiny of the video evidence shows that some vandals had carried hammers, rods, etc. Many tore through the justice posters, some broke the barricades. The details have led police to investigate if there was a deliberate conspiracy to hijack the “reclaim the night” protest.

COPS WERE OUTNUMBERED, RENDERED USELESS

Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal accepted that police was outnumbered and were rendered ineffective. “We were clearly outnumbered. As we have a ‘no use of force’ policy for protesting doctors, it took time to react when the barricades were broken,” he said.

Additional CP added that reinforcement also took time as the city was congested owing to dharnas and protests at every few meters.

“We are probing if the protests around RG Kar, blocking of roads were all part of a larger plan. WhatsApp groups were set up for crowd mobilisation. Did any of the groups have an inkling about the violence is being probed,” an officer said.