A group of miscreants entered the premises of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata shortly after midnight on Thursday and vandalised the area where protests were taking place against the rape and murder of a junior doctor, The Indian Express reported.

The police said that a group of persons disguised as protestors entered the premises, vandalised property and threw stones at police personnel, PTI reported. They allegedly attacked demonstrators, including doctors, and also damaged police cars.

The mob comprised 5,000 to 7,000 people, according to an official statement. The police claimed that some of them carried the “symbol of a certain political party”, but did not identify the party.

Several police personnel reportedly sustained injuries in the violence.

A large crowd had gathered at the hospital to protest the rape and murder of a junior doctor. The 31-year-old junior doctor and postgraduate student was found dead in the seminar hall of the hospital on August 9.

Doctors at the hospital said in a video released on social media that the miscreants entered the area when a group of women doctors planned a protest march, and “attacked whoever was in their way”.

One of the doctors said: '“We also came to know that they entered several wards and hostels. They damaged the entire emergency ward and the gynaecology section. The emergency ward has been totally vandalised. The police administration completely failed to help us.”

Subhendu Malik, one of the protestors, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express: “They even tried to enter the building where the junior doctor was raped and murdered. Police stood as mute spectators.”

Kolkata Commissioner of Police Vineet Kumar Goyal, however, claimed that the violence took place due to a “wrong media campaign” about the police’s handling of the rape and murder case, PTI reported.

Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that the hooliganism and vandalism at the hospital exceeded all limits. He urged the police commissioner to ensure that the culprits are identified and held to account irrespective of their political affiliations.

“The demands of the protesting doctors are fair and justified,” he said. “This is the minimum they should expect from the government. Their safety and security must be prioritised.”

However, Indranil Khan, the West Bengal president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, said that the vandalism reflected the “failed law and order” in the state. He urged Governor CV Ananda Bose to intervene and ensure the safety of the protesting students and doctors. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Nurses protest vandalism

Nurses at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday organised a protest against the vandalism of the premises and demanded security, PTI reported.

“Such hooliganism inside a hospital is unacceptable,” the news agency quoted one of the nurses as saying.

Mamata Banerjee seeks capital punishment for rape, murder

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into the rape and murder case, to ensure capital punishment for the culprit by Sunday. She added that the state government is following the directives of the Calcutta High Court and is cooperating with the CBI.

Banerjee urged striking doctors to resume duty. “If it makes you happy, I touch your feet and request you to resume your duties to help people with medical assistance,” she said.

The chief minister said that the junior doctor’s rape and murder should not be politicised, even as she questioned the BJP and Congress on crimes against women that took place under their governments.

Also read: What a brutal crime in a Kolkata hospital reveals about the dangers women doctors face in India