'Some TMC members may also be involved': Adhir Chowdhury holds protest march over Kolkata rape-murder case

Former West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday held a protest march over the rape-murder incident at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Speaking to the media, the Congress leader said it appears that more than one person was involved in the act and the police may be trying to protect some people. He said the people do not have faith in the West Bengal government as the police have tried to suppress the incident from the beginning. "I want the state government and police to support CBI in the probe."

The former MP said he also has information that some ruling party members may be involved in the crime.

Chowdhury's protest march comes days after he slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for deteriorating the law and order situation in West Bengal. "One of the age-old iconic medical colleges in the city of Kolkata witnessed the heart-curdling, outrageous brutal rape and murder of a woman junior doctor is further vindicating the abysmal deterioration of law and order situation in West Bengal run by CM," he said in a tweet on August 10.

The Congress leader, who is a vocal critic of Mamata, said the image of Bengal was being tarnished and someday people would say that "Kolkata has become a rape capital". "May I suggest her to talk a little less and work little more. Not mere preaching but performing CM is required now. Where are those heinous culprits? Who dared to do this? How they are indulged? Stringent punishment needs to be ensured against them?" he said.

The rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College has triggered massive protests across the country by the medical fraternity.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions for the hospital and the local administration. The entire country is shocked by the gruesome incident of rape and murder of the junior doctor in Kolkata, said the former Congress president.

"The attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration," Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi. "This incident has forced us to think that if doctors are not safe in a place like a medical college, then how can the parents send their daughters outside for studies? Why are even the strict laws made after the Nirbhaya case unsuccessful in preventing such crimes?" he said.

Every party, every section of the society will have to hold serious discussions and take concrete steps on the continuously increasing incidents against women from Hathras to Unnao, and from Kathua to Kolkata, he said. "I stand with the victim's family in their unbearable pain. They should get justice at all costs and the culprits should be given such a punishment that it serves as an example in the society," Gandhi said.

The body of the woman post-graduate trainee was found inside a seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on the morning of August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime. Junior doctors across West Bengal continued to cease work on Wednesday, the sixth day on the trot, protesting against the horrific incident.

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of the probe into the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor from the Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).