Kolkata, Aug 15 (IANS): Kolkata Police, on Thursday claimed to have identified the principal miscreants behind the ransacking of the emergency department of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital.

The ransacking took place a few minutes after Wednesday midnight when a score of people led by women took to the streets of Kolkata following the call of “Meyera, Rat Dakhal Karo’ (girls, reclaim the night) demanding justice for the junior doctor of the same hospital who became victims of the ghastly rape and murder last week.

“We have identified the miscreants who led the attack, and stringent action will be taken shortly,” read a statement issued by the city police on Thursday morning.

In the statement, the city police have also claimed that after Wednesday midnight a mob of between 5,000 and 7,000 people, invaded the R.G. Kar Hospital, attacked protesting doctors and medical students, and attempted to ransack the premises.

At the same time, the city police complemented the cops present at the time of the ransacking at the hospital in trying to prevent the situation from worsening despite being outnumbered.

“We are proud of the fact that, despite being heavily outnumbered, our colleagues deployed at the spot, including the DC (North), tried to fight back using limited resources, putting their own lives at risk until reinforcements arrived to bring the situation under control. Several of our men were injured in the attack, some of them seriously,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, in a social media post made in the morning, the city police cautioned about the spread of information that the scene of crime in case of the ghastly rape and murder has been affected following the midnight ransacking.

In the post, the city police claimed that the scene of the crime, which was the seminar room had not been touched. “Don’t spread unverified news. We will initiate legal action for spreading rumours,” the city police’s social media post read.