The nine persons arrested from outside the Tridhara Sanmelani pandal on Rashbehari Avenue on Wednesday night, were produced before Alipore court on Thursday and remanded in seven-day police custody, till October 17.

They were charged under various sections, including unlawful assembly, assaulting a public servant while on duty and public mischief under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), apart from relevant sections of the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act.

Representing the state, the public prosecutor said: “Is the spot outside Tridhara pandal a place to hold protest shows? The place remains so crowded during the puja days. What would have happened if an accident occurred?”

On Wednesday, the police arrested nine persons from outside Tridhara while they were allegedly distributing pamphlets for the cause of justice for the raped and murdered junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The group later attempted to hold a protest there when they were arrested, the police said.

The nine were taken to Lalbazar, a move that prompted a group of people to converge on Bentick Street and Bowbazar on their march to the police headquarters before the
police stopped them.

The police said three of their personnel were injured in the scuffle while trying to stop the protesters outside the Tridhara pandal.

The public prosecutor said there were no junior doctors among those who had gathered and later arrested. “There’s no issue with protests but there’s a reservation with the site where it was being held.”

The lawyer, appearing on behalf of the arrested, said the FIR was drawn up at 11.35pm, almost four hours after the group was rounded up. “The police were waiting for the outcome of the meeting of the junior doctors with the chief secretary at Swasthya Bhavan.”

After listening to both sides, the judge remanded the nine arrested in seven days of police custody.

Around the time when the case was being heard at Alipore court, a group marched down Central Avenue and tried to enter the College Square pandal.

The group was stopped outside the pandal by the police personnel who had set up barricades there.

A scuffle followed after which the protesters moved away and decided to move towards the Mohammad Ali Park pandal on Central Avenue.

“Police is making efforts to ensure voices of protests are snuffed,” said one of the members of the group.