Kolkata: In response to her allegedly controversial social media posts disclosing the identity of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital junior doctor who was raped and killed on August 9, Kolkata Police have summoned Locket Chatterjee, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a former member of the Lok Sabha, along with two doctors.
According to individuals with knowledge of city police operations, in addition to disclosing the victim’s identity, Chatterjee—a former actress who is now a politician—and the two doctors are facing allegations of sharing false information on social media that could incite tension.
All three have been asked to be present at the city police headquarters in central Kolkata by 3 p.m. on Sunday. The city police officials want to know from them the basis of information that prompted them to make some posts on social media that were apparently controversial, sources added.
Since the beginning, Kolkata Police have issued statements cautioning netizens to refrain from making posts on various social media platforms that might reveal the identity of the victim or spread misinformation.
Even the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya, while ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape and murder case, also cautioned about making social media posts revealing the identity and pictures of the victim doctor.
Meanwhile, civil society has launched a scathing attack on the Kolkata Police for its latest notification enforcing Section 163 of the Indian Civil Protection Code, 2023, around R.G. Kar Hospital for seven days starting from Sunday, barring gatherings, protests, or rallies in the area during that period.
Civil society has described this move as the state administration’s “power domination” to suppress spontaneous public protests at the epicentre of the crime.
The doctor’s body was found in suspicious circumstances in the seminar hall of the R.G. Kar hospital on August 9. The Kolkata Police arrested one person in the case. Later on, the Calcutta High Court ordered the case to be transferred to the CBI.
There have been large-scale protests in the state as well as across the country demanding justice for the victim.
–IANS
