NEET Protest Violence Shakes Kolkata: Goonda Act Arrests, Bail After Supreme Court Steps In
Kolkata's streets turned volatile on July 24 when a NEET paper-leak protest march from Sealdah to Esplanade erupted in clashes at Dorina Crossing, with police deploying baton charges and tear gas as demonstrators attacked journalists and officers. Sixteen people were arrested under West Bengal's newly enacted Goonda Act, briefly remanded to judicial custody, then bailed out following a Supreme Court order directing no coercive action against protesters without prior criminal records. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari intensified the political temperature by alleging that foreign-backed Islamic fundamentalists had used the student protest as cover to orchestrate the disorder.
Courts Grant Bail After Goonda Act Arrests in NEET March Violence
A protest march against alleged NEET examination paper leaks turned violent on July 24 in central Kolkata as demonstrators moved from Sealdah station toward Esplanade. At Dorina Crossing, clashes broke out between protesters and police, who deployed baton charges and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Several journalists covering the demonstration were attacked during the march. Sixteen people were subsequently arrested and produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, who remanded all sixteen to judicial custody until July 30 under West Bengal's newly enacted Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, 2026—known informally as the Goonda Act. The law, which allows preventive detention of anti-social elements for up to twelve months, was invoked for the first time since it was passed by the state's BJP government. Bail pleas filed on behalf of the accused were initially rejected by the magistrate's court. The outcome shifted after the Supreme Court issued an interim order directing that no coercive action be taken against student protesters who lacked prior criminal records, and that any detained minors be released. Following the apex court's directive, the City Sessions Court granted bail to all sixteen persons. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari separately announced that seventy individuals identified through CCTV footage and video recordings as having attacked police and journalists had been named and would also face action under the same Goonda Act. [2]
CM Adhikari Alleges Foreign-Backed Fundamentalists Orchestrated Kolkata Violence
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari made sweeping allegations in the aftermath of the July 24 NEET protest violence, claiming that Islamic fundamentalists with possible backing from foreign forces had orchestrated the disorder during the demonstration. He said those arrested were not genuine student protesters but individuals who had used the march as cover to create large-scale disruption in Kolkata. The Chief Minister said they had been identified through CCTV footage and videos captured during the clashes. Adhikari described the arrested as 'Friday people,' noting that thirteen of the fourteen arrested were Muslim, and vowed they would face punishment that their next three generations would remember. The state government announced it would invoke the Goonda Act against those implicated in the violence, marking the first planned application of the law since its passage. Chief Minister Adhikari also stated that none of the fourteen people arrested in connection with the NEET protest violence were actually students, characterising them instead as anti-social elements who had infiltrated the agitation. Left student organisations and the Citizens for Justice and Peace separately demanded the release of detainees, arguing that the arrests constituted suppression of legitimate student agitation against examination irregularities. The Ministry of External Affairs, questioned about the CM's foreign-funding allegations, stated it did not have specific information to share on the matter. [5]
🤝 Bay of Bengal Depression Deepens, Bringing Another Wet Week to Kolkata
The India Meteorological Department warned late in the week that a low pressure system over the Bay of Bengal was likely to deepen into a depression, drawing Kolkata and the wider West Bengal region into another extended stretch of heavy monsoon rainfall. An IMD bulletin issued on July 23 forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall—in the range of seven to twenty centimetres—across several districts of South Bengal through the first half of the week ahead. A fresh upper air cyclonic circulation was expected to develop over the northwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining coastal areas of North Odisha and West Bengal around July 25. The department further forecast that this system would likely consolidate into a low pressure area over the same region by around July 26, compounding the risk of sustained downpours across the state. North Bengal districts were also placed under watch for isolated bouts of heavy rainfall during the second half of the week, although the most intense activity was projected to remain concentrated in the southern districts. Residents, commuters, and civic agencies across Kolkata and the surrounding districts were urged to remain alert and prepared for continued wet conditions throughout the days ahead. [3]
🏢 Bengal Clears Three New Thermal Plants in Rs 30,000-Crore Power Push
The West Bengal government has approved plans for three new supercritical and ultra-supercritical thermal power plants, targeting combined investment of more than thirty thousand crore rupees to expand the state's electricity generation capacity. Two of the new units, each rated at 800 megawatts, are planned at Santaldih and are to be developed under a public-private partnership arrangement, with private developers expected to commit more than twenty thousand crore rupees toward those two facilities. The third plant, also an 800-megawatt supercritical unit, is to be built by the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited at its Bakreshwar site, at an estimated project cost of ten thousand and seventy crore rupees. All three units are described as supercritical or ultra-supercritical in design, reflecting newer generation standards that deliver improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions compared with older subcritical technology. The state government has framed the approvals as part of a sustained effort to build out generation capacity and keep pace with rising electricity demand across the state. The combined nameplate capacity of the three new units is 2,400 megawatts. A foundation stone was also laid during the same period for a 1,600-megawatt thermal plant at Salboni, signalling that power infrastructure investment is accelerating across multiple sites in Bengal simultaneously. [7]
Sources: [2] The New Indian Express · [5] ThePrint · [3] Telegraph India · [7] The Times of India