Fans of arch-rival football clubs Mohun Bagan and East Bengal on Sunday joined hands to protest against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata. Several people were detained as the cops lathicharged at the protesters and put them inside police vans.

The fans gathered outside Kolkata’s iconic Salt Lake stadium where a Durand Cup match was to be played between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. The match was called off yesterday due to th law and order situation.

Reacting to the cancellation of the match, All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey said, “It is very shameful; law and order has completely collapsed in West Bengal. A football match could not happen… and look at the police deployment, it looks like a riot is going on.”

Despite this, fans turned up in large numbers, holding flags of their respective clubs and posters demanding justice for the trainee doctor, who was raped and murdered at the city’s RG Kar hospital.

The Bidhan Nagar police had requested the public not to assemble at the stadium and imposed restrictive orders under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

As the crowd swelled outside the stadium, sloganeering against the rape incident, the police resorted to lathicharge and detaining protesters.