The march led by BJP activists, held to protest the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital one year ago to the day, changed its route suddenly on Saturday afternoon, catching police unawares.

As the protesters led by Suvendu Adhikari and the parents of the murdered junior doctor squatted near the spot where Chowringhee Road meets Kyd Street, some of them clashed with the police, who carried out a baton charge. The mother accused the police of beating her up.

“The police pushed and shoved me and hit me on my forehead. My shankha was shattered; I was also hit on my hands,” the murdered doctor’s mother said.

Sometime later, after she, her husband and some others had left the spot and reached Kidderpore Street to try and get to Nabanna, she felt ill and was taken to Medica hospital off EM Bypass with a pronounced swelling on her forehead.

Medica said in a release: “Fifty-two-year-old lady presented to ER at 3:35pm with alleged history of sustained injury with a bruise on her forehead. She was found to be alert, awake and oriented on presentation.

“On examination by Emergency consultants and ER by the Neuro team, her vitals were found to be stable & has been advised conservative treatment at home.”

Senior police officers present during the baton charge denied the mother had been hit. They said a probe had been ordered. They also said that several policemen were injured when the protesters allegedly attacked, while trying to break the barricade.

The officers said the protesters had not been permitted to march to Nabanna. They said the marchers had been told that an enclosure on Rani Rashmoni Avenue would be made available to them as a protest site in keeping with a Calcutta High Court order.

“We learnt on Saturday afternoon that the protesters had decided to gather at the Dorina Crossing and march up R.R. Avenue towards Eden Gardens and head further towards Hastings on their way to Nabanna,” a senior IPS
officer said.

“But they changed their plan suddenly after gathering at the intersection of S.N.
Banerjee Road and Chowringhee Road.”

Protesters clash with police after breaking barricades, prompting a mild lathi charge in the Park Street area, followed by some protesters assaulting a policeman during the Nabanna Abhijan on August 9, 2025. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha

About 1,000 men and women carrying the national flag had assembled at the Dorina Crossing by 1pm. The gathering included several trident-carrying monks.

After some time, Adhikari and some BJP legislators arrived. The protesters began walking towards R.R. Avenue before suddenly changing course and pouring into the flank of the Chowringhee Road that Esplanade-bound vehicles take from
Park Street.

“Why should we inform the police about a democratic and peaceful march?” Adhikari said. “The march was organised in response to the plea of the RG Kar victim’s parents for a march to Nabanna to seek justice.”

With the protesters taking over one flank of Chowringhee Road, the police decided to keep the other open to traffic.

“Also, barricades were being readied to stop the marchers on the flank along which they were walking towards Park Street when some of them jumped across the median divider and landed on the other flank, left open for traffic,” a senior police officer overseeing law and order in Chowringhee said.

“The barricades were quickly shifted to the other flank, and the marchers were stopped at a point near where Kyd Street opens into Chowringhee Road.”

Some of the protesters tried to break through the barricades and overpower the police. The force tried to stop them for some time and then carried out the baton charge.

While some marchers ran away, a few others lay on the road protesting the police “high-handedness”.

A protester injured during a lathi charge in the Park Street area during the Nabanna Abhijan on August 9, 2025. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha.

Adhikari and other BJP leaders squatted near the Geological Survey of India office on Chowringhee Road. They remained there for nearly two hours from 1.45pm.

The protesters continued to try and break the police barricades even after additional forces from Lalbazar arrived.

Adhikari said: “The police unleashed brute force to stop us. Over 100 people were injured. We did not carry our party flags.”

Adhikari added: “It was a peaceful march, and the attack was unprovoked.”

A little before 4pm, Adhikari and the other BJP leaders left the spot on Chowringhee Road, wishing luck to another group of protesters whohad, by then, started gathering at Hazra for a march to Kalighat. This group, stopped by the police, blocked Hazra Road for sometime beforeleaving.

Adhikari headed straight to Medica. There, he said an MRI and a CT scan had been performed on the murdered doctor’s mother in connection with her head injury.

The BJP leader alleged that the murdered junior doctor’s father too had been hit — along with Adhikari himself and many others — during the baton charge.

Doctors at the hospital said the patient was under observation in the emergency ward.

Besides Chowringhee Road, protesters had also gathered at Howrah Maidan and Santragachi in Howrah for their Nabanna march.

The police set up huge steel barricades and stopped them from reaching the statesecretariat. Some protesters started a bonfire near the barricades, while others waved their shoes at the police before gradually dispersing after an hour.