Kolkata Police summons BJP leader, two doctors for questioning over social media posts

The Kolkata Police have summoned woman BJP leader and former Lok Sabha member, Locket Chatterjee, and two doctors for allegedly making controversial social media posts revealing the identity of the woman junior doctor of state-run R.G Kar Medical College & Hospital who was raped and murdered on August 9.

City police insiders said that besides revealing the identity of the victim, there are also complaints against Chatterjee, an actress-turned-politician and the two doctors, for spreading misinformation through social media that has the potential of triggering tension.

All three of them have been asked to be present at the city police headquarters in central Kolkata on Sunday by 3 p.m. 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 had been issuing statements cautioning netizens to refrain from making posts on various social media platforms that might either 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, the 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 the period.

The civil society has described this move as the "power domination" by the state administration 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 order of the Calcutta High Court, the case was transferred to the CBI.

There have been large-scale protests in the state as well as across the country demanding justice for the victim.

(With inputs from IANS)