Curfew imposed around RG Kar Hospital for 7 days
Amid ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the Kolkata Police have imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (formerly Section 144 of the CrPC). The order, effective from Sunday, August 18, will remain in force for seven days.
The directive, issued by Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal, prohibits rallies, meetings, processions, dharnas, demonstrations, and any unlawful assembly of five or more people in the designated area around the Medical College and Hospital. The move aims to restore order and manage the escalating situation in the city.
The order read, “In exercise of the power conferred by Sub-Section (1) of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, read with Sub-Section (3) of the said Section, I, Vineet Kumar Goyal, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, being an Executive Magistrate for the Metropolitan area of Kolkata as well as the district of South 24 Parganas (within the limits of the suburbs of Kolkata falling under Kolkata police jurisdiction), do hereby prohibit, for a period of seven (7) days from 18.08.2024 to 24.08.2024, or until further notice, any unlawful assembly of five (5) or more persons, carrying of lathis, any lethal or other dangerous weapons, or the commission of any act likely to cause a breach of peace and disturbance of public tranquillity within the specified area in the town of Kolkata.”
The imposition was made “in regard to inputs and information received from credible sources, indicating sufficient reasons for violent demonstrations, rallies, and meetings by a section of the public or an organization, thereby causing a breach of peace, disturbance of public tranquillity, health or safety, danger to human life, and obstruction to doctors, nursing staff, medical staff, and lawfully employed persons in the said area,” the order stated.
On 9 August, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, leading to nationwide strikes and protests by the medical fraternity.
On Wednesday, the protest ground and the hospital campus at RG Kar were vandalized by a mob, forcing security personnel to disperse the crowd.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had called for a nationwide strike during which routine OPD services and elective surgeries would not be conducted. IMA called for a 24-hour withdrawal of medical services from 6 am on Saturday till Sunday.
Key medical student organizations like The All India Medical Students’ Association (AIMSA) and Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) have joined the nationwide strike.
Protesting doctors at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the site of a horrific rape-murder of a trainee doctor, have leveled serious accusations against both the police and the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government.
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