The ED officers are conducting raids at 15 places in the state during the day and Sajahan's house is one of them, an officer said.
The decision followed a petition by former deputy superintendent of the medical establishment, Akhtar Ali, who sought an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into alleged financial misconduct during the tenure of the college's former principal, Sandip Ghosh.
A team of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday held on-spot inquiries in Sandeshkhali to ascertain facts about alleged sexual abuse by some Trinamool Congress leaders even as fresh agitation rocked the trouble-torn village, where locals torched the property of accused Trinamool leaders and held demonstrations against the delay in arresting the main accused, Shahjahan Sheikh.
Rescue officials confirmed casualties in the incident, claiming to have already recovered 5 bodies from the heap of debris where the cracker manufacturing unit once stood.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to nominate Ananta Rai 'Maharaj', who has been demanding a separate state of 'Greater Cooch Behar' to be carved out of West Bengal, as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from the state, has kicked off a fresh storm with the ruling Trinamool Congress accusing the saffron party of fanning separatism in the state.
If the BJP has to work as a junior partner of Vijay's TVK, then either the party will have to change the state leader, or the latter should change himself. Incidentally, ever since Vijay started talking politics and elections, the pro-BJP/Hindutva social media had stopped dragging his name into any non-existing issue.' In particular, they have stopped referring to him by his Christian name, 'Joseph Vijay', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
The BJP is certain that the TMC will divide the Opposition votes, leaving it free to cruise through the polls.
'The time has come for all those believe in a democratic India to stand up and be counted and to make a choice.'
West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar on Thursday said that police will listen to the complaints of every individual in Sandeshkhali and strict action will be taken against those found guilty.
"The NIA categorically refuted allegations of mala fide in its Bhupatinagar blast case," an agency spokesperson said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday named 72 more candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Anurag Singh Thakur, and former chief ministers Manohar Lal Khattar, Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai.
The CBI during its probe got inputs of a large cache of arms hidden in Sandeshkhali. On Friday morning, a CBI team started a search operation during which the arms, including foreign-made pistols, were seized, the officials said.
The bypoll on September 5 is also a litmus test for all three political outfits, with the BJP hoping to check its erosion in its vote share and retain the seat, the TMC aiming to wrest the tribal-dominated assembly segment and the CPI(M)-Congress alliance hoping to regain its traditional seat.
Six Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, were suspended from the West Bengal assembly over staging protests in the House in view of unrest in Sandeshkhali.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Speculations are rife that heavyweight Suvendu Adhikari, who quit the Trinamool Congress and gave up cabinet portfolios in the Mamata Banerjee government, may join BJP during Shah's visit along with a slew of disgruntled TMC leaders, including some MLAs such as Silbhadra Dutta and Jitendra Tiwari.
In Phase 6, indications are that the BJP, which is defending 40 seats, will lose in double digits and gain in single digits. Not good, if you are the ruling party scrambling to earn a working majority, with just one phase left to go, argues Prem Panicker.
Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee were taken to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Monday in connection with the Narada sting operation, officials said.
Party leaders are being forced to bite the tongue while answering queries on cut money and alleged arrogance of local TMC leaders.
The byelections are of critical importance to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost the assembly poll to Bharatiya Janata Party's Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.
Among those killed were eight from TMC, and one worker each of the BJP, the CPI-M, the Congress and the ISF.
Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has been at the centre of a political storm for nearly a month and has witnessed unprecedented protests over allegations of sexual abuse by scores of women against a local Trinamool Congress leader.
The governor assured the "tortured" women, who tied rakhis on his wrist, all help to get justice.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
Around 200 people belonging to the Sikh community staged a demonstration in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party office in Kolkata on Wednesday, expressing solidarity with an Indian Police Service officer who had alleged that West Bengal party leader Suvendu Adhikari labeled him as a 'Khalistani'.
The advisory came a day after BJP and TMC workers clashed in Sandeshkhali area of North Parganas district.
The Calcutta high court on Monday directed the police to arrest Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, who has been accused of sexual atrocities and land grab by villagers in Sandeshkhali area, while clarifying there is no stay on it.
Results of the panchayat polls indicated a paradigm shift in state politics with the baton of main opposition party passing from the Left to the BJP.
Citing Section 144 CrPC was in force in parts of Sandeshkhali and it would not be prudent to allow them access to the area even in groups of four-five, senior police officers stopped their convoy at the Bhojerhat area, which is around 52 km from the riverine area, on Basanti Highway.
Since much of the voting was on religious lines, Mamata's rural focus became irrelevant.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed confidence in the unity of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in combating injustice nationwide, a day after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's decision to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
A team of CBI officials reached CID headquarters Bhawani Bhawan in Kolkata before 4 pm. But the handover from the state agency took place at around 6:48 pm, despite the Calcutta high court setting a deadline of 4.15 pm.
The Kolkata connection of Lalit Jha sparked a political debate in the state, with West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar accusing TMC MLA Tapas Roy of being in "convenience" with Jha.
One person was killed and six others were injured in a clash between the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal's Birbhum district, police said.
Protests were held in different parts of Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas, Jalpaiguri districts, and Trinamool Congress supporters briefly blocked roads in some areas.
A delegation of the NCSC had visited Sandeshkhali on Thursday after a large number of women claimed that TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters captured swathes of land by force and also sexually harassed them.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
The riverine Sandeshkhali area in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district -- situated on the borders of the Sunderbans, about 100 kilometres from Kolkata -- has been on the boil for more than a month with protests against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan, who is absconding, and his supporters.
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