The Indian police today used batons and water cannons and lobbed tear gas shells to prevent hundreds of students from marching towards the state secretariat ‘Nabanna’ to press for the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Hospital in Kolkata.

Police said they resorted to baton charges and tear gassing after the agitators, defying prohibitory orders in the Nabanna area on the other side of Howrah Bridge, managed to breach the barricades at some locations and attacked the security personnel.

At Santragachhi, agitators hurled bricks at police, injuring several officers, while protestors claimed that police action also injured several students.

The police-protesters standoff escalated when the student organization, 'Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj', and the dissident state government employees' platform 'Sangrami Joutha Mancha' began their 'Nabanna Abhijan rally from various points.

Mamata-led Trinamool Congress claimed today’s protest march would be a chance for miscreants to incite violence while the Kolkata Police termed the event ‘illegal’ as it had no permission.

Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari of BJP today alleged police resorted to "brutal repression" on the peaceful participants of 'Nabanna Abhijan' and threatened to stall West Bengal if the "brutalities" by state administration were not stopped.

"Police are using water cannons on peaceful protestors at Santragachi, burst tear gas shells on the students at Howrah Bridge and lathi-charged them at College Street. Please stop these brutalities immediately," the senior BJP leader told reporters.