West Bengal violence: BJP worker's death sparks more clashes

Agencies
July 7, 2017

Kolkata, Jul 7: Life was limping back to normalcy in the communal violence-hit areas of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district as paramilitary forces marched on the streets, and internet and WI-FI services remained suspended in the affected pockets on Thursday.westB

There were no reports of violence from Baduria, Banstala and Tetulia -- the worst affected areas in Basirhat sub-division, where some roadside shops opened and public transport commenced plying. Train services on the Sealdah-Basirhat line, which were disrupted over the past two days due to blockades, also normalised, a railway spokesman said.

However, a clash broke out between supporters of the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP-RSS activists outside a government-run hospital here following the death of an injured patient from Basirhat earlier in the day.

The BJP and RSS leadership claimed the deceased - an active BJP worker - was killed, allegedly during the communal trouble.

A police officer said the Basirhat resident died due to multiple stab injuries, but did not confirm it was linked to the communal violence.

Some BJP leaders including actor turned politician Locket Chatterjee were stopped by a mob from entering the hospital to meet his family.

Later in the day, a mob surrounded the cars of state BJP president Dilip Ghosh and party's national General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and demanded they go back from the place.

Claiming the agitators were "Trinamool-backed hooligans", Ghosh said they were being forcibly stopped from meeting the deceased's family and some of their activists were "severely beaten up".

Police said a scuffle had broken out between the Trinamool and BJP-RSS activists. "The car of former BJP MLA Shamik Bhattachary was vandalised. No case has been lodged yet. No one has been detained," said a police officer.

Meanwhile, BJP chief Amit Shah formed a three-member delegation of MPs to look into incidents of communal violence in the state.

The delegation, headed by senior party leader Om Mathur, and comprising New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi and Baghpat MP Satyapal Singh, will visit the violence-hit areas on Friday to take stock of the ground situation.

The Left and the Congress also decided to send teams to the areas on Friday. The Left delegation would be led by politburo member Mohammad Salim, while state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would spearhead the party delegatrion.

Amid the hectic political activity, the two-day old stand-off - in the aftermath of the violence - between Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi and the Mamata Banerjee government took a fresh twist with a senior state BJP leader calling him a "dedicated soldier" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brigade.

"Trinamool Congress thinks that bad-mouthing the Governor would bottle him up. But they are making a mistake here. He is a dedicated soldier of the 'Modi Vahini'. So, he will keep walking the path of truth," BJP national Secretary and former state President Rahul Sinha told reporters here.

The Trinamool was quick to latch on to Sinha's comments.

"There is nothing left to be said. He is the ignorant chief of an ignorant group," State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said about Tripathi.

"Today, the cat is out of the bag. We've been saying for the last few days that the Governor's house has been transformed into a BJP office and the Governor himself is involved in the process. The statement of Rahul Sinha officially certifies our claims," he added.

Rushing in to control the political fall-out of Sinha's remarks, Vijayvargiya said no one should doubt Tripathi's potential and scholarship, and accused the state government of attacking the Governor to divert people's attention from their failure in maintaining law and order.

In Basirhat, the roads were mostly deserted and the few locals who came out on the road said they wanted peace to be restored in the affected areas.

"We all want peace to be restored. People of all communities have been staying together for ages here. We want things to be that way," a pedestrian said while talking to a news channel.

"No fresh incidents of violence have been reported. There are enough police personnel and security forces deployed to avert any untoward situation," a Baduria police station officer said.

Armed paramilitary personnel were seen marching on the streets while a large number of state police personnel kept vigil at check posts and pickets.

Clashes had broken out after a Facebook post by a local youth went viral earlier this week.

Though the youth was arrested and the post deleted, trouble broke out and spread to several areas as trees were felled to put up road blockades, vehicles, including those of the police, torched and houses and shops damaged.

A number of police personnel sustained injuries during the clashes.

The central government has rushed 300 paramilitary personnel to control the situation.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2020

Panaji, Mar 26: Three persons, all with travel history abroad, tested positive for coronavirus in Goa on Wednesday, health department officials said, as the tourist haven joined the states which have reported COVID-19 cases.

This is the first time the tourist state has reported coronavirus positive cases.

The Directorate of Health Services, in a late night press statement here, said three suspected cases of COVID-19 from Goa, whose test results were awaited, have turned out positive.

All three are male patients of ages 25, 29 and 55 years. They have travel history of returning to Goa from Spain, Australia and the USA, respectively, the officials said.

The condition of the trio, admitted in Goa Medical College and Hospital near here, is stable, the officials added.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state is providing the best healthcare facility to the diagnosed patients.

I have been informed by the state Directorate of Health services that three individuals have been tested positive for #COVID19 in Goa.

"We are providing the best healthcare facility to the diagnosed patients, he said.

Their condition is stable at present. e have also traced their contacts and are quarantining them, Sawant added.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the government is taking all precautions and following guidelines related to the viral infection.

In view of the three positive coronavirus cases in Goa, we are following all guidelines laid down by the central government and taking all precautions with the support of chief minister Pramod Sawant, he said.

Our testing facility will be up and running in the next two days. Our team of doctors is doing its est to make sure we contain the spread of virus in the state, Rane added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 14,2020

Mumbai, Apr 14: Activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday after he surrendered before it in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

Teltumbde surrendered at the NIA office at Cumbala Hill in south Mumbai following the Supreme Court's directives.

He was subsequently arrested by the NIA and shall be produced before a court here shortly, an official said.

Earlier, the scholar reached the NIA office in the afternoon along with his wife Rama Teltumbde and brother-in- law and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.

Anand Teltumbde is the grandson-in-law of Dalit icon Dr B R Ambedkar, whose 129th birth anniversary is being observed on Tuesday.

Civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, a co-accused in the case, also surrendered before the NIA in Delhi. His anticipatory bail plea was also rejected by the apex court.

According to the official, Navlakha will be produced before the court in Mumbai through video conference.

The Supreme Court on March 17 this year rejected the pre-arrest bail pleas of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, and directed them to surrender before the investigating agency.

Teltumbde, Navlakha and nine other civil liberties activists have been booked under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for having alleged Maoist links and conspiring the overthrow the government.

The apex court while rejecting Teltumbde and Navlakha's bail pleas on March 17, directed them to surrender before the prosecuting agency withing a period of three weeks.

The duo later sought extension of the time.

On April 9, the Supreme Court extended the time by one week by way of last chance.

The activists were booked initially by Pune Police following violence that erupted at Koregaon-Bhima there.

According to police, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence the next day.

The police also said these activists were active members of banned Maoist groups.

The case was later transferred to NIA. Teltumbde and Navlakha were given interim protection by the Bombay High Court while their pre-arrest bail pleas were being heard.

After the high court rejected their applications, the duo approached the Supreme Court.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 9,2020

Ujjain, Jul 9: Kanpur encounter main accused Vikas Dubey has been arrested at a police station here on Thursday, as per sources in the Uttar Pradesh government.

"Vikas Dubey, the main accused in Kanpur encounter case, has been arrested at a police station in Ujjain," said UP government sources.

Dubey is the main accused in the encounter that took place in Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants allegedly opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him.

Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

Earlier today, Bahua Dubey and Prabhat Mishra, close aides of the main accused, were killed in separate encounters in Etawah and Kanpur respectively.

Whereas, Shyamu Bajpai, also an aide to Dubey, has been arrested by Chaubeypur police following an encounter. He carried a reward of Rs 25,000. Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF) had gunned down Vikas Dubey's close aide Amar Dubey in Hamirpur district, earlier on Wednesday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.