Suvendu Adhikari.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Kolkata: Leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP on Thursday wrote to the Centre, seeking security by paramilitary forces at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospitals which was vandalised amid the ongoing protest against the rape and murder of a doctor.
In his letter to the Union home secretary, Adhikari said it was the duty of the police to protect the crime scene and provide security to the people working and patients being treated at the hospital, but they "miserably failed".
"....due to their incompetence, rather than protecting innocent citizens, they were locking themselves up in toilets, leaving the entire hospital exposed to the rioters," he said.
"Furthermore, after the mob had completed their riotous run, for a sham show the police started firing tear gas, which further testifies the fact that the police authorities were hand in glove with the rioters and such to make a show of taking action, the said tear gas shells were fired. The role of Kolkata Police and its Commissioner is suspect (suspicious)," he alleged.
Adhikari said the manner in which the vandalism took place in the early hours of Thursday, it clearly indicated that it was pre-planned.
"In view thereof, I request you to forthwith deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Forces at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital to protect valuable evidence such that a proper investigation is conducted and concluded by the CBI...," he said.
The TMC, however, claimed that the vandalism at the hospital, which was rocked by protests following the rape and murder of the doctor, was a conspiracy hatched by the BJP and CPI(M).
"The CBI has taken over the investigation and the state has extended all cooperation to the agency. BJP leaders like Suvendu are trying to fish in murky waters. They are desperate after facing rejection from the people of Bengal in every election," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed.
A mob entered the hospital campus in the early hours and ransacked the emergency room, parts of the OPD, and the dais where junior doctors were protesting the rape and murder of their colleague.
The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the hospital on Friday. She was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty, according to police.