Roopa Ganguly, Former BJP MP, Arrested In Bengal After Night-Long Protest Over Bansdroni Student's Death

Former BJP MP Roopa Ganguly has been arrested and taken to Kolkata Police Headquarters. She was protesting the death of a student in an accident in Kolkata's Bansdroni area.

Former BJP MP Roopa Ganguly.

Source : Facebook

Former BJP MP Roopa Ganguly has been arrested and taken to Kolkata Police headquarters — Lalbazar. She was staging a dharna on Wednesday night on the Bansdroni Police Station premises demanding the release of a BJP leader who was arrested in the Bansdroni accident case. Roopa Ganguly was arrested for obstructing police work.

Bansdroni Accident Case In Kolkata

The Bansdroni area in south Kolkata erupted in protests after the death of a school student in a road accident involving an excavator on Wednesday, October 2. The continued throughout the night and the locals even clashed with the police in the Dinesh Nagar locality.

The Class-9 student was crushed by the excavator while standing by his bicycle near his tuition centre. The incident occurred around 7 AM. He was rushed to the hospital, but the 15-year-old boy was declared dead on arrival. Enraged at the accident, which allegedly occurred due to the poor condition of the road, locals vandalised the excavator.

Soon, the local Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor faced the ire of the protesters and was accused of negligence. Tensions ran high throughout the day, with demonstrators blocking the road and holding the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Patuli police station hostage for several hours. The OC was even shoved into the muddy water on the road by angry protesters, as scuffles continued in the area.

Later in the evening, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rupa Ganguly staged a protest outside the Bansdroni police station, demanding the immediate arrest of the driver responsible for the student's death. She questioned why the excavator driver had not been arrested. Ganguly also accused the TMC of using "goons" to shield the police.

DC of South Suburban Division, Bansdroni, Bidisha Kalita said Thursday that a few officers fell sick after the protesters held them hostage. "We are taking action... Efforts are being made to bring the law and order under control. Video footage is being examined and action will be taken accordingly."

#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: DC of South Suburban Division Bansdroni, Bidisha Kalita inspected the spot where a Class 9 student died in an accident.

DC Bidisha Kalita says, "It was reported that a boy died in an accident with a JCB vehicle. A case has been registered but there… pic.twitter.com/JgpXM1R7cE

— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2024

BJP Leader Arrested

The protests intensified, leading to the arrest of BJP leader Ruby Mondal and four others. After nearly 14 hours of protests, Ganguly was also arrested for obstructing police work. The police are still hunting for the accused, who fled the scene after the accident.

Bansdroni's Dineshnagar is located on the outskirts of Kolkata, between the jurisdictions of both the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality. At the time of the accident, drainage repair work was being carried out in the area under the supervision of the Kolkata Environment Improvement Investment Program (KEIIP). According to a report by Telegraph India, the road on which the accident occurred, had been under repairs since 2017.