kolkata police commissioner, two health officials removed after CM Mamata Banerjee's meeting with doctors

Following West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to remove Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, DC North Abhishek Gupta, and two health department officials amid protests by junior doctors, Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar voiced sharp criticism. Majumdar remarked, "Mamata Banerjee has accepted some demands, though earlier she insisted she would not remove the CP. The people of Bengal were calling for action, and she eventually gave in to their demands. However, BJP believes this is a systematic failure, and the real responsibility lies with Mamata Banerjee herself."

Majumdar further accused Banerjee of losing the trust of the people of Bengal, saying, "The people have lost faith in the Chief Minister, which is why BJP is demanding her resignation. She herself had said that if the public wanted, she would resign, and BJP will continue to fight for that demand."

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on late Monday announced the removal of the Kolkata police commissioner and two health departments officials after a meeting with agitating junior doctors. The decision came after nearly two hours of discussions between the state government and the protesting doctors, aimed at addressing their concerns after horrific Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case.

The meeting between the West Bengal government and the agitating junior doctors got over after nearly two hours, after which both sides were in the process of finalizing the minutes of the meeting, news agency PTI reported citing sources.

After four unsuccessful bids to initiate a dialogue to resolve the more than a month-long deadlock, a delegation of 35 agitating junior doctors came for the meeting this evening.

The meeting, which was originally scheduled at 5 pm, began around 6:50 pm and ended at around 9 PM.

Union minister Sukanta Majumdar says, "The attitude and rigidity adopted by the government only shows that they are not ready to make any compromise with the doctors. They have made five demands the government can accept at least one. What does it take to remove the CP?.

Dr Tuhin says, "Our representatives have reached to hold a meeting with the CM Mamata Banerjee. We will talk about our 5 demands. We will end our protests and movement only when our demands will be fulfilled..."

BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty says, "We will not let anyone manipulate the protestors."

​​ When asked about being present in the Nabanna Abhiyan, he says, "Yes, I will be part of the Nabanna Abhiyan. It will not end in the middle..."

BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty says, "The doctors have been fighting and will keep fighting. The entire Bengal is with them..."

A senior Kolkata Police officer on Monday came out in support of Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala Police Station arrested by the CBI in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case, and asserted that he had conducted the initial investigation transparently. Additional Commissioner of Kolkata Police, V Solomon Nesakumar, along with other senior officers of the city police, met Mondal's family and assured them all support.
"We met the family of Abhijit Mondal. We spoke with his wife and informed her that the department stands by them like a family and will provide all support," Nesakumar told reporters.

The CBI arrested the OC of Tala Police Station on Saturday in connection with the rape and murder case of an on-duty postgraduate trainee whose body was found in the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

The RG Kar Medical College and Hospital falls under the jurisdiction of Tala PS.

Junior doctors from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital leave from the premises to attend the meeting with CM Mamata Baernjee at her residence.

"We want clarity and we want to hold transparent talks. We will take any further decisions after meeting the CM," says a junior doctor.

"We have mentioned that two transcript writers will go with us. We believe that we have negotiated to the last extent and we will not negotiate any further," says another protesting doctor.

Turning down the compensation of Rs 2 lakh, the family of a 10-year-old boy who died at a state-run hospital in Dakshin Dinajpur district rejected the West Bengal government's claim that the ongoing agitation of the junior doctors caused his death. Shivam Sharma, a class 3 student, was injured in a road accident, following which he was taken to the Balurghat hospital. His family alleged that he died there due to the negligence of a senior physician who despite being on duty was late in attending him.

"There are no junior doctors at this hospital. And he died on August 12, three days after the incident at the RG Kar hospital when the agitation by the junior doctors was at a nascent stage. So any claim that he was a victim of junior doctors' cease work is wrong," said Shivam's uncle Anand Sharma.

Shivam died as the senior medic on duty did not attend him on time, he alleged.

"Instead of passing the buck, the authorities must take action against the senior physician whose negligence took away a precious life," he said.

"Since the day of incident, we have been facing the injustice of hospital administration and police department. It is extremely shameful that since the first day, efforts have been made to destroy evidence and protect the real culprits. SIT raised many questions on the day of the incident such as, why was the complete CCTV footage not shown, what was the rush to cremate the body, and why was the FIR lodged after 14 hours? These are some basic questions raised by the victim's family and the Supreme Court. They raise a direct question on the intentions of the hospital authorities and police department," says Dr Aparna while addressing a press conference of junior doctors and RDA from all across India in Delhi.

The agitating doctors have demanded to record the minutes of the meeting by both the parties during its meeting with West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

"Willing to join if minutes of meeting allowed to be recorded by both parties," the doctors' body said.

"Arrest of Kolkata Police officer by CBI in RG Kar case enhances need for meeting's transparency," it added.

The junior doctors have agreed to meet the CM and will head towards her home in Kalighat shortly. They have agreed for the minutes of the meeting without video recording and live streaming

30 junior doctors agreed to meet West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee at 5pm. However the doctors have reiterated their demand of live streaming the meeting.

Senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College on Monday alleged tampering of evidence in the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case. Addressing a press conference here, they reiterated their demand for a live streaming of the meeting between them and the West Bengal government.
"We condemn all such heinous crimes. This crime is a fallout of the nexus between West Bengal government and health department officials," said one of the doctors.

The doctors alleged there was "tampering of evidence".

The West Bengal government on Monday "for the fifth and the final time" invited the protesting junior doctors for talks to end the RG Kar impasse, two days after the dialogue failed to take off over disagreement on live-streaming of the meeting.

In an email to the protesting junior doctors, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant asked them to reach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kalighat at 5 pm on Monday for the talks

Dr Subarna Goswami, Additional General Secretary, All India Federation of Government Doctors Association (AIFGDA) says, "We want there should be a meeting definitely (of the doctors and the chief minister)...The meeting should be held in a transparent ambience. The junior doctors should be taken into confidence so that they can voice their demands properly and the government's response must be documented either in videography or live streaming. Why is the government afraid of facing junior doctors on live streaming? Our main demand is timely justice in the case. We want action against not only the rapist and the killers but also against those who tried to tamper with the evidence and misguided the investigation process and the whole syndicate of few doctors..."

During the press conference, Protesting doctors alleged that the government tried to bribe the parents to curb the protests. The doctors also raised several other lapses which they believed were made to derail the probe in the RG kar rape and murder case of a trainee doctor.

During a press conference, senior doctors accused the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government of covering up the the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The senior doctors also accused the state police of tampering with the evidence and lying in Supreme Court.

Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal on Monday continued with their cease work, stating that they would remain steadfast in their resolve to pursue justice for the medic raped and murdered at the RG Kar hospital. The doctors continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the Health department, for the eight day and the cease work for the 36th day and vowed to continue it till their demands - the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner and senior state health officials are met.
"We will continue our cease work till our demands are met. The state government is not serious about resolving the crisis," an agitating junior medic said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday made a surprise visit to the site where the doctors were protesting and assured them that their demands would be addressed, but the proposed meeting fell through, with the protesters claiming that they were asked to leave "unceremoniously" after waiting for three hours at the gates of the CM's residence.

Another protesting doctor claimed they had agreed to attend the meeting without live-streaming or video recording as Banerjee requested, but after notifying Minister of State for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, of this decision, they were told to leave because it was too late.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh claimed on Sunday that there is a rift between the protesting junior doctors in Kolkata. After posting an audio clip of an alleged conversation between the doctors, he said that one section of doctors is looking for a solution, whereas another section wants the disturbance to continue.

The TMC leader claimed, "From the audio clip, it is clear that one section of the doctors wants a solution whereas the other section wants the disturbance to continue, this is an indication that taking a predetermined decision, one section wants a solution and another does not. So when Mamata Banerjee came out of the house, she asked them with folded hands to participate in the meeting, she said that it had been three hours, you come into the house and talk, but they did not agree."

"The audio clip which I have uploaded on social media is of the discussion that took place between the junior doctors before meeting the West Bengal CM on Saturday, it took place on their protest platform itself," he added.

Ghosh had posted the alleged audio conversation on his YouTube platform and also shared it on the microblogging platform X.

The junior doctors have continued their protest for the fifth consecutive night at Swasthya Bhawan in the Salt Lake area, with one of the doctors saying that the protests will continue until justice is delivered.

With the help of medical fraternities, the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA), protesting against the RG Kar rape and murder case of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, has set up a temporary medical camp named 'Abhaya Clinic' at Bagajatin Park in Siliguri to provide medical facilities to the public.

Speaking to ANI, the doctors said, "We are here to provide medical facilities to the people. Most of the departments are here at the camp to ensure the services. It is not true that patients are not receiving treatments, whether it is at rural hospitals or medical colleges."

Patients who arrived at the camp welcomed the move and said, "It's very effective for us.The doctors are giving their best besides their movement for justice. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is lying that people lost their lives due to the lack of treatment. It is very unfortunate. The people are with the doctors for justice."

The medical representatives provided the free medicines to the patients here at the camp.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear on Tuesday a case it has initiated on its own following the rape and murder of a resident doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata amid the ongoing protests by doctors in West Bengal. The hearing assumes significance as resident doctors continue their strike despite the apex court's directive to them to resume work by 5 p.m. on September 10 to avoid punitive action by the state government which had claimed that their absence from work had led to the death of 23 patients till September 9, the day the case was last heard.

In the meantime, the West Bengal government had on Monday invited the protesting junior doctors for talks "for the fifth and the final time" in order to end the impasse, two days after the dialogue between the government and them failed to take off over disagreement on live-streaming of the proposed meeting.

In an email to the protesting junior doctors, state's Chief Secretary Manoj Pant asked them to reach Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence at Kalighat at 5 p.m. on Monday for the talks.

Banerjee visited the protest site on September 14 and extended an olive branch to the agitating doctors and invited them for talks which have not fructified yet despite her trying to assure them that their demands will be met.

The West Bengal government, led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has extended another invitation to the protesting junior doctors in an effort to resolve the impasse between the medical professionals and the state administration.

The doctors have been asked to attend a meeting at the chief minister's residence in Kalighat at 5pm.

In an email addressed to the junior doctors, chief secretary Manoj Panth stated, "This is the fifth and final time we are reaching out to you for a meeting between the Honourable Chief Minister and your delegates.In line with our discussion from the day before, we are once again inviting you to a meeting with the Honourable chief minister at her Kalighat residence for a discussion with an open mind."