NEET protest: Two more arrested in Friday’s unrest; police reconstruct scene

Gourab Neto, MP, July 27, 2026, Kolkata: In a breakthrough, Kolkata Police arrested two more individuals in connection with the widespread violence during the recent NEET paper leak protest rally by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), while investigators reconstructed the crime scene on Monday with a few of the arrested persons.

With the two fresh arrests made late on Sunday night, the total number of arrests in the case reached 16.

The two suspects, Waqar Azam of Karaya and Javed Akhtar of Nadial, were picked up during coordinated raids by the police.

According to sources, CCTV footage and digital surveillance confirmed that both individuals were actively involved in orchestrating the chaos.

They were seen leading a mob that hurled shoes and glass bottles at on-duty police personnel and also targeted media vehicles.

To build a watertight case, investigators took five of the key accused, including alleged mastermind Mohammad Afroz, back to the intersection of Dorina Crossing under heavy police deployment to prevent public backlash.

The accused were made to walk through the protest site to demonstrate their exact physical positioning during the July 24 clash.

The exercise, which lasted for nearly forty-five minutes, aimed to verify the sequence of events and map out how the initial peaceful demonstration degenerated into a full-scale riot.

Police have claimed that none of the 16 arrested so far were students.

They have been termed external troublemakers who had infiltrated the protest movement to incite violence.

It may be mentioned that the CJP has distanced itself from the incident.

In an official email sent to the Kolkata Police, the CJP has clarified that none of the arrested individuals has any official links with the organisation or the protest.

Though police are claiming that the arrested persons were actively involved in the vandalism and the attack, the brother of one of the arrested persons, Salman, dismissed the allegations.

Claiming Salman to be innocent, his brother said that he was cleaning the area by picking up empty water bottles which were thrown on the road by the protesting students.

Nowhere was his elder brother involved in orchestrating the violence.

On the other hand, the lawyer appearing for the accused persons alleged that police have violated the guidelines of the Supreme Court.

Clarifying further, the defence counsel claimed that in any case registered under such sections where the maximum punishment is either seven years or less than seven years, police cannot arrest any accused directly.

As per the orders of the apex court, a notice must be served upon them.