The Kolkata Police have apprehended two more individuals allegedly involved in the violence that broke out during the NEET paper leak protest rally in Kolkata on Friday, raising the total number of arrests in the incident to 16 by Monday morning.
The Left student organisations had organised a rally in Kolkata over the NEET paper leak and was later joined by supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). The rally, which began from Sealdah and proceeded towards Dorina Crossing, later turned violent, with journalists and police personnel allegedly being attacked with stones, shoes and water bottles.
It has been reported that none of the attackers were students and had allegedly infiltrated the student organisation’s rally. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had stated that everyone involved had been identified and that appropriate action would be taken.
Police sources revealed that the two newly arrested individuals were picked up from the Garden Reach and Park Circus areas of Kolkata. While Waqar Azam was arrested from the Karaya police station area, Javed Akhtar has been nabbed from Nadiyal.
Meanwhile, on Monday, five of the arrested individuals – Mohammad Afroz, Salman, Alamgir, Khalid Reza, and Mohammad Moinuddin – were brought to Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala to re-enact the incident. They were spotted walking barefoot alongside the police. They were escorted from their vehicle to the Dharmatala crossing. A detailed account was obtained and their statements were recorded. Investigators stated that the re-enactment was organised to verify various aspects of the incident and clarify the specific role played by each individual.
The police identified the attackers, noting that most were “outsiders” with prior criminal records. The total number of arrests stands at 16, with 14 of them currently in two-day police custody.
Speaking about the incident, the Chief Minister said that the police had identified at least 70 individuals, people who were neither students nor members of the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ and who had no direct connection to the NEET movement.
“We will take action under the anti-goon laws in such a way that not just one day, but three generations of these goons will remember it,” he had said.