Union min Sukanta Majumdar walks out of Kolkata Police HQ after overnight detention over rape protest

Kolkata: Union minister Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday morning walked out of the Kolkata Police headquarters after being detained, along with other BJP leaders, overnight following a protest against the gang rape of a student at a law college.

Stating that he had refused bail on personal bond, Majumdar, also the BJP state unit chief, said that the police released them in the morning without pressing any charge.

"West Bengal has become a killing field of democracy," he told reporters after coming out of the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar.

The BJP leader said that the party will hold a "bail refusal" movement from now on, emphasising that those detained during agitations will not take bail on personal bond from police stations and would insist on being produced in court.

"Two incidents of rape inside educational institutions have taken place in the city within eight months, where is the administration?" he asked, pointing to the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee and the alleged gang rape of a law student in the college where she studies.

The BJP leader said that despite the state having a woman chief minister, incidents of crime against women were taking place with impunity.

Claiming that these incidents are only the tip of the iceberg, Majumdar maintained that many such incidents go unreported owing to "intimidation and fear".

The police had on Saturday stopped a BJP rally led by Majumdar and detained him along with several other party leaders when they tried to take out the protest march to South Kolkata Law College, where a student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on June 25.

Following the survivor's complaint, the police have arrested the prime accused along with two others. A guard of the college was also apprehended on Saturday morning, according to the police.

Majumdar, on being stopped from taking out the protest rally, claimed that there is no security for women and that they are not safe in West Bengal.

"We were here to protest the rising number of crimes against women. The police did not allow us to hold the rally. The chief minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, must take responsibility for the gang rape," the Union minister said.

Majumdar and two other party leaders had refused to sign a bail bond.

"In one month, I have been arrested four times whenever I have tried to protest against the government. Today, I have decided not to sign the bail bond to get a release... I will spend the entire night here to protest against the rise in cases of torture of women," Majumdar said in an audio message from the lockup.

BJP activists in Howrah, Bakura, Balurghat and many other places held demonstrations in support of Majumdar's decision.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation's three BJP councillors -- Sajal Ghosh, Mina Devi Purohit and Bijoy Ojha -- held a sit-in in front of the rear gate of the police headquarters. Later, they were whisked away by a team of policemen.