AROUND 100 teachers who had organised a protest rally “Nabanna Abhiyan”, to the state secretariat, were detained on Friday by the police before the rally began, at three different locations — Salt Lake, Sealdah station and Esplanade. They were later let off, police sources said.

The protesting teachers had assembled to demand permanent reinstatement as eligible teachers, opposing the state’s directive to retake recruitment exams.

One protesting teachers who suffered injuries after an altercation with the police said, “They did not even allow us to gather. They … detained us one by one. We protested, police dragged and picked us up in police van… I injured my ankle.”

Police informed that the injured teacher was admitted in the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. “They have no permission to gather at Esplanade… We took steps as per law and detained at least 50 protesters from there. One protester got injured in the leg. We admitted her in hospital,” said Indira Mukhopadhyay, DC (central), Kolkata police.

The move comes after CM Mamata Banerjee on May 27 announced to conduct fresh recruitment exams as per the Supreme Court’s directive.