Tensions escalated in Kolkata on Tuesday after Paschimbanga Chhatra Samaj gave a call for 'Nabanna Abhijan', demanding the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While the West Bengal police called the protest illegal, the students' organisation held its march towards the state secretariat over the rape and murder of a trainee medical student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Ahead of the march, Kolkata was turned into a fortress as layers of barricade surrounded the secretariat and around 6,000 police personnel were deployed to thwart the protest.
Paschimbanga Chhatra Samaj is an unregistered student group which calls itself "apolitical". The Tuesday march is being organised by Prabir Das, a Master's student of Rabindra Bharati University, Subhankar Halder of Kalyani University and Sayan Lahiri of Rabindra Mukta University.
Lahiri said they have three demands including justice for rape-murder victims, capital punishment for the culprits, and Mamata Banerjee's resignation.
The three student leaders who have organised the rally said at a recent news conference that they came across each other on social media. While they termed their outfit apolitical, India Today quoted a source from the Bharatiya Janata Party saying the group has a "tacit backing" from Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
As per the report, Haldar was a member of Trinamool Congress's student wing till 2014, said the organisation, adding that he was suspended over an allegation of rape and kidnapping. He later joined the BJP in 2018 along with former TMC veteran Mukul Roy and was appointed president of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's Nabadwip wing.
The allegations have, however, been refuted by Haldar.
The BJP also threw its weight behind the Nabanna march while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) distanced itself from it. Ruling Trinamool Congress termed the event illegal and also accused BJP and RSS of trying to foment chaos in Kolkata.