Amid protests by civil society organisations over the rape-murder of a trainee doctor, Bengali theatre personality Biplab Bandyopadhyay on Tuesday announced returning the state-instituted ‘Best Theatre Director’ award over the RG Kar Hospital issue.

Bandyopadhyay, eminent playwright and director, said in a statement that he is returning the award conferred on him earlier this year by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi and the Rs 30,000 monetary grant.

The state government and the “partisan” police force want to “hide facts” following the rape and murder of a woman doctor in R G Kar Hospital on August 9, he alleged.

“I think the main criteria behind such awards is not one’s talent and merit but sycophancy, unconditional support to the state. I did not realise this while accepting this honour in February,” he said.

Bandyopadhyay said, “I felt ashamed and aggrieved as a human being and disturbed by the shameless hyper activism of the state after the R G Kar incident.” He said he cannot retain any state-instituted award after the R G Kar incident.

"I have intimated the Akademi (about his decision to return the award),” he told reporters.

One week back, a well-known theatre group in Malda district ‘Samabeta Prayas’ said it will return a Rs 50,000 state grant to protest the government’s handling of the R G Kar issue.

Saradindu Chakraborty, the head of the theatre group Samabeta Prayas, had said the grant was originally awarded to support a two-day theatre festival by his group in the district.

The state-run Paschimbanga Natya Akademi provides a grant of Rs 50,000 to theatre groups across the state to support and promote the group theatre movement.

Eminent theatre personality Kaushik Sen said, "The response to this horrific incident and the state’s handling of it should be addressed in whatever way individuals or organisations see fit.” Earlier, six Durga Puja committees in West Bengal declined to accept the state’s Rs 85,000 honorarium in protest against the RG Kar incident, further highlighting the widespread dissatisfaction with the state’s response.

The body of the on-duty post-graduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered, was found in the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

One civic volunteer was arrested by the police in this connection the next day. The CBI is now investigating the matter now on an order of the Calcutta High Court.