Nabanna recorded attendance of around 90 per cent on Tuesday when the state secretariat was fortified in the wake of a march called by a “non-political outfit” to press for chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s resignation.

Although the first few hours of the day did not witness any untoward incident around Nabanna, the situation changed after 3pm when some protesters reached within 200 metres of the seat of power in Bengal.

Senior police officers took no chance and closed all gates of the secretariat as around 500 people shouting slogans against Mamata were spotted on Sarat Chatterjee Road
in Howrah.

The march called Nabanna Abhiyan was being spearheaded by the Chhatra Samaj.

A large contingent of police rushed to disperse the processionists. Over 2,000 police personnel, under the command of 90 senior officers, took positions in and around the building.

“The mob came so tantalisingly close to the secretariat that slogans could be heard at Nabanna,” said a senior officer.

The police dispersed the protesters within 15 minutes, but questions arose on how such a large number of people assembled at a stone’s throw distance from Nabanna.

“It can’t be denied that intelligence failure led to the situation. But the situation was managed successfully,” said a senior police officer.

The day at Nabanna had begun normally as employees started arriving after 9am, at least an hour earlier than any other weekday. The heavy deployment of police on and around the campus gave the impression that the administration did not want to take any chances.

The chief minister reached Nabanna at 10.50am, at least 40 minutes earlier than her normal arrival.

“She held a series of meetings with senior government officials, including the DGP, and took note of the ground situation,” said an official.

Senior government officials said nearly 90 per cent of attendance was recorded at the secretariat, which was normal.

“I decided to reach the office early to avoid any trouble on my way,” said an employee of the finance department.

As there were severe restrictions because of the march, the police checked everybody’s identity card thoroughly on Vidyasagar Setu and at the gates of Nabanna.

Passenger cars heading towards Nabanna through Vidyasagar Setu were allowed only till 10.30am. After that, no cars or buses were allowed on Vidyasagar Setu.

Employees faced trouble going back home as the Vidyasagar Setu was not open for cars and buses till 6pm.