Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the opposition CPI(M) and the BJP of orchestrating vandalism at RG Kar hospital and trying to distort the truth behind the rape-murder of a woman doctor by spreading fake news on social media.
Reiterating her demand for capital punishment for the culprits, Banerjee commended Kolkata Police for their investigation into the case, which was later transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.
She also urged the Central Bureau of Investigation to resolve the case by Sunday and demanded that the culprits be hanged.
"We want the truth to come out, but some quarters are spreading lies to mislead people. Attempts are being made to hide the truth by circulating fake news on social media. We condemn these activities. We want the culprits to be punished," she said while addressing a rally.
Banerjee led a protest rally from Moulali to Dorina Crossing in Kolkata on Friday, demanding justice for the woman doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last week.
"The nexus between the Left and BJP should be exposed. The CPI(M) and the BJP are behind the vandalism at the hospital. They vandalised the facility to destroy evidence of the ghastly crime," she said.
The Chief Minister slammed the Union government for sending teams to Bengal but turning a blind eye to similar incidents in BJP-ruled states.
"They don't send teams to Uttar Pradesh even after incidents like Hathras and Unnao. They are always busy maligning Bengal. I don't want to talk about diplomatic matters, but why all the neighbouring countries are complaining about India. This has never happened before, they have messed up everything," she said.
Banerjee also slammed the Congress, her party's ally in the opposition bloc INDIA, over its remarks regarding the incident.
"The Congress is criticising us but what about their track record in the states they rule. They should first look into their own backyard before making any remarks against us," she said.
Amid the public outrage, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently had said the attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration, triggering angry reaction from the TMC, its ally as part of opposition bloc I.N.D.I.A. at the national level.
The woman post-graduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in the seminar room of the state-run health facility on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the next day.
A group of people entered the hospital and vandalised the emergency department, nursing unit and medicine store in the early hours of Thursday.
The mob also damaged CCTV cameras at the state-run health facility and ransacked a stage where junior doctors had been demonstrating against the alleged rape and murder of the doctor there and demanding security at their workplace.