NEET paper leak protest turns violent as cops, Left students clash in Kolkata
Clashes broke out between Left student organisations and police in central Kolkata during a protest over the NEET paper leak, with security forces using a
Clashes broke out between Left student organisations and police in central Kolkata during a protest over the NEET paper leak, with security forces using a baton charge and tear gas to try to disperse the crowd, a senior officer said. The protesters blocked Dorina Crossing in the Esplanade area and threw footwear and water bottles at police personnel. A large contingent of the RAF, a combat force of the city police, and central paramilitary forces was deployed to prevent the situation from worsening.
Read Full Story Police were seen struggling to clear the agitators from the busy intersection on a working day. Till the last reports came in, the crowd had not been dispersed from the area despite what police described as a mild lathi charge and the firing of some tear gas shells. According to police, a section of protesters who claimed to be supporters of the Cockroach Janta Party joined the Left activists at the rally's endpoint in Dharmatala after calling off their own programme when they were denied permission for a separate protest march.
The protesters were demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak. Earlier in the afternoon, Left student organisations held a rally in Kolkata from Sealdah to Esplanade in solidarity with the nationwide students' movement against the alleged irregularities in NEET, the medical entrance test. Carrying placards, they raised slogans demanding Pradhan's resignation, the dissolution of the Testing Agency, which conducts NEET, and justice for students allegedly subjected to police excesses during demonstrations in the national capital.
The demonstrators also extended support to the demands raised by the Cockroach Janta Party, which has been spearheading protests over the NEET paper leak. Ends
The BriefWire