On Sunday (18th August), BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya shared the call recording of a cop telling a youth to not protest at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata, where the match between Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal East Bengal Football Club was scheduled.
“The match has been cancelled. So please do not come there to protest, okay? That’s all I wanted to say,” the police official from the Bidhannagar South police station was heard saying.
On being told that the protest would continue nonetheless, the cop warned, “No, I’m telling you so that you don’t come. There was a match scheduled at that place but it has now been cancelled.”
Mamata Banerjee has turned West Bengal in to a police state.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 18, 2024
The tinpot dictator has ordered Kolkata Police to call individual sports enthusiasts, who were planing to attend the East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan derby and use the opportunity to demand justice for the RG Kar MCH rape… https://t.co/m6UaAXVWsl pic.twitter.com/YB23q6mbWQ
“This match has been cancelled just because of such a flimsy excuse,” the youth told the cop. He added, “Thank you very much for informing me. But I’m letting you know, thousands of people will be present there.”
It must be mentioned that sports enthusiasts were planning to protest over the rape-murder of a junior doctor at the RG Medical College and Hospital during the Mohun Bagan Super Giant and East Bengal East Bengal Football Club match.
The much-anticipated game of football was scheduled to take place on Sunday (18th August) but was cancelled a day earlier. The decision was taken after the police informed the ‘All India Football Federation’ that they could not provide security cover.
#WATCH | West Bengal: Protest held near Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata against the rape and murder of a woman resident doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. pic.twitter.com/Uu8P5omlJg
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2024
Despite the cancellation of the match and intimidatory tactics by the police, the football fans nonetheless turned up near the stadium on Sunday (18th August) and held large-scale demonstrations.