Drunk civic volunteer rams divider at RG Kar protest site, arrested after sit-in

A civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police has been arrested for hitting a divider at Sinthi near RG Kar Medical College.

And Hospital where students were protesting against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor. The protesters claimed the civic volunteer, Gangasagar Ghosh, was drunk, and his bike had a Kolkata Police sticker.

The incident happened at 3.45 am on Saturday when a group of students of Rabindra Bharathi University were protesting against the doctor’s rape and murder. The civic volunteer appeared at the protest spot on his bike and hit a road divider.

The student protesters immediately intercepted Ghosh and handed him to an on-duty traffic officer, Tarakeshwar Purie. However, the protesters alleged that the traffic sergeant helped the civic volunteer escape from the spot as a huge crowd gathered.

The students’ group then staged a sit-in and protested against the police, demanding immediate action against the civic volunteer and the traffic cop.

Later, Kolkata Police arrested the accused civic volunteer based on a complaint filed by the students. A departmental inquiry has been launched against the traffic sergeant while the civic volunteer has been removed from service.

Civic volunteers are hired by Kolkata Police to help manage traffic and assist police during festivals and awareness campaigns.

The development comes as the protests over the RG Kar rape-murder case refuse to die down. The 31-year-old doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

A civic volunteer of the Kolkata Police, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested a day later. He was arrested after the police found a Bluetooth device near the crime spot. CCTV footage also showed him on the third floor of the hospital where the seminar hall is situated.