The commissioner of Calcutta police has asked all “officers and men deployed down the line” to show “utmost restraint”, especially “during student rallies”.

In a message posted in the city police’s official WhatsApp group on Tuesday, top cop Anuj Sharma said a “spurt of rallies” with “renewed vigour and high emotions” had followed the violence on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus.

The rallies, he said, need “patient handling”.

“A large number of rallies and processions by students and various organisations are being taken out daily in city against NRC/CAA which passed off peacefully. Fresh spurt of rallies in connection with JNU (Delhi) incident was started in the city with renewed vigour and high emotions,” Sharma wrote in the message.

“This is the time for police to show utmost restraint and patience in tackling the situation. It is our duty to ensure that the city remains peaceful. Hence all officers and men deployed down the line may be strictly briefed to show utmost restraint especially during student rallies.”

Police across the districts also received similar instructions from Nabanna on Tuesday to do “aggressive homework” to avoid “aggressive policing on road”.

The instruction came a day after Calcutta police faced criticism for an alleged baton charge on students of Jadavpur University, who had first gathered at the 8B bus stop in Jadavpur to protest Sunday’s attack on JNU students and then blockaded a BJP rally.

Within minutes of the incident, senior officers said a “misunderstanding” had led to the “unintentional” baton charge.

A section of the police force feels the lathicharge could have been averted with a “little more careful handling of the situation”.

Calcutta’s streets have witnessed many protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens over the past few weeks. Those were all peaceful.

This was the first time in Calcutta in recent past that the police have been accused of assaulting students.