Kolkata, 29 June

The police on Saturday stopped a BJP rally led by its West Bengal unit chief Sukanta Majumdar and detained him along with several other party leaders when they tried to take out the protest march to a law college in the city, where a student was allegedly gang-raped, a senior officer said.

The rally was not allowed to proceed towards the South Calcutta Law College, where the 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on 25 June.

"The protest march was stopped at Gariahat crossing in south Kolkata, and Majumdar and several other BJP leaders were detained. They were taken to the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar," the senior officer said.

Following the victim's complaint, the police have arrested primeaccused Manojit Mishra, Promit Mukherjee and Zaid Ahmed. A guard of the college was also apprehended on Saturday morning, he said.

The BJP in New Delhi said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should apologise and offer to resign over the alleged gang rape of the law college student in Kolkata, claiming that all the accused were linked to the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Majumdar alleged that there is "no security for women and they are not at all safe in Bengal".

"We were here to protest against the rising number of crimes against women. The police did not allow us to hold the rally. The chief minister must take responsibility for the gang rape incident," the union minister said in Kolkata.

He also said, "The CM is not only the chief minister but also our police minister. Police personnel act like Trinamool Congress workers. They are preventing us from conducting a protest rally. Mamata does not want Sukanta Majumdar to hold any rally here," he said.

The 3-km protest march was planned by the BJP from the Gairahat crossing to the South Calcutta Law College in the Kasba area.

Later, Majumdar and two other party leaders 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 started demonstrations in support of Majumdar's decision.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation's three BJP councillors -- Sajal Ghosh, Mina Devi Purohit and Bijoy Ojha, started a sit-in in front of the rear gate of the city police headquarters in Lalbazar.

Later, they were whisked away by a team of policemen.

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendhu Adhikari, hit out at the West Bengal government over the alleged gang rape incident and questioned the process of appointments of principals in colleges.

"Appointments of principals are done from Kalighat and Camac Street and not by the Education Department. Those who are made the principals are spineless. So this lawlessness is expected," Adhikari alleged here.

He apparently referred to the chief minister as her residence is in the Kalighat area, and also to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee as his office is in the Camac Street locality.

Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda has formed a four-member committee, which will visit the state to investigate the matter and submit its findings, the party's national spokesperson Sambit Patra said.

Biplab Kumar Deb and Manan Kumar Mishra, both MPs, and Satyapal Singh and Meenakshi Lekhi, both former parliamentarians, are its members.

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal also criticised the state government over the alleged gang rape of the law college student, and claimed, "Law and order in Bengal has deteriorated. This has worsened further due to appeasement politics."

Senior BJP leader Agnimitra Paul in the state alleged that the Kolkata Police had destroyed or tampered with evidence in the RG Kar hospital case.

"If we demand a CBI investigation now, the police may again destroy evidence. Let the state police personnel, who draw salaries from taxpayers' money, investigate the case and take full responsibility," Paul added.