A delegation of junior doctors, protesting against the R.G. Kar rape and murder, met Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and handed over a letter demanding his resignation. They gifted him a replica of a human spine.
Hundreds of doctors, on a night-long protest near the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar, have been demanding the resignation of Goyal alleging police inaction in the case. After a 22-hour impasse, the police removed guardrails and barricades, and allowed the delegation of 22 doctors to meet the Commissioner.
While protesters took out demonstrations from nearby Phears Lane towards Lalbazar, the delegation representing the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front met Goyal in his office and held discussions for an hour.
Aniket Mahato, a junior doctor at the R.G. Kar hospital, and one of the representatives, said the Commissioner “gracefully received” their deputation document demanding his resignation.
“He admitted failure of the police regarding what happened on August 12 (‘renovation work’ near the crime scene) and August 14 (attack on R.G. Kar hospital). We discussed other irregularities surrounding cordoning off of the crime scene and evidence tampering,” Mahato said after the meeting. “He listened to us and said he was satisfied with the work of the police, but if his superiors ask him to resign, he would do so gladly,” he said.
Meqnwhile, thousands of citizens joined the human chain and commuters chanted “we want justice” as they passed by the protesters. “We should not forget the need for justice even when Durga Puja arrives,” one of the protesters said.
