Kumarganj rape: BJP rallyists held, given another march route

A number of BJP workers were arrested on Friday when they tried to take out a rally from the city's cultural complex Nandan to Hazra crossing in South Kolkata in protest against the gangrape and murder of a 17-year-old minor girl in Kumarganj of West Bengal's South Dinajpur district.

Claiming the rallyists did not have requisite permission, the police rounded up the slogan-shouting BJP activists as soon as they assembled at Nandan for the march.

The rallyists were later allowed to continue their protest march on another route suggested by the authorities.

In a virtual rerun of the Hyderabad crime, the minor girl was gangraped allegedly by three persons at a secluded spot in the Belkhor area last Sunday. The perpetrators then killed the girl by slitting her throat and then burnt the body by pouring petrol to destroy evidence of the crime.

On Monday, the body was discovered from under a culvert by locals after they saw stray dogs fighting over charred flesh. The body was sent for autopsy and was identified by the victim's family members.

BJP state Mahila Morcha chief Locket Chatterjee, who was also arrested at the Nandan complex, targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"After the heinous crime in Kumarganj, people wanted to hit the streets to protest. We sought police permission, but were refused, at the express instructions of the Chief Minister as she did not want our voice of protest to reach across the country," said Chatterjee, an actress-turned politician.

"The Chief Minister is trying to push things under the carpet in Bengal, she said.

Chatterjee said his party had moved the Calcutta High Court, where the state government said it could not give the nod for the rally as permission had already been given for another procession on the same route.

The state then suggested an alternate route, following which the court permitted the BJP to take out a procession from Nandan to the Birla Planetarium before returning to Nandan.

"We are communicating the order to the police, and will take out the rally on the route permitted by the court," Chatterjee said.

( With inputs from IANS )