Night patrolling on hospital premises and regulating access for people to key areas are among the measures the Centre has asked states to implement to ensure the safety of medics at workplaces, following Supreme Court orders in the rape-murder case of a junior doctor in Kolkata.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has attached over a dozen properties worth Rs 12.78 crore of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh including bank deposits, an apartment, and agricultural and fishery land in Sandeshkhali and Kolkata in West Bengal.
A four-member team of the Union home ministry, tasked with looking into reasons for the post-poll violence in West Bengal, met Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Raj Bhavan.
Joint Director Ramnish Geer, who led the probe in cases like housing scam allegedly involving the then Union minister Sheila Kaul, Naval war room leak case, kidnapping of an NRI businessman and his release besides other high profile anti-corruption cases, received the coveted President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service.
In a communication to the chief secretary and the director general of police of West Bengal, the Union home ministry also said there is no regulation in vegetable, fish and mutton markets and social-distancing norms are being violated at these places in the state.
The CBI's failure to file a chargesheet within the mandated 90 days has resulted in bail being granted to two key suspects in the rape-murder case of an on-duty medic at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. This comes just days after the West Bengal Police secured capital punishment for a convict in a similar crime against a minor. The delay in justice has sparked outrage, particularly among the victim's family and junior doctors who are demanding accountability.
'Yaas' is likely to cross the Odisha-West Bengal coasts between Paradip and Sagar Islands around noon on May 26 as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 155-165 kmph, Kolkata's Regional Meteorological Centre Deputy Director Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.
The move came in the wake of several political parties complaining to the Election Commission, alleging that Virendra was inclined towards the ruling Trinamool Congress, sources said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she has blocked Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Twitter, 'disturbed' by his regular posts against her government on the microblogging platform.
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.
Ahmedabad civic authorities launched a massive demolition drive on Tuesday, razing over 2,000 illegally constructed houses and properties in the Chandola Lake area. The operation, which involved around 50 teams equipped with earthmovers and 2,000 police personnel, was carried out days after illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were detained from these settlements. The Gujarat High Court declined to stay the action, observing that the dwellings were situated on the periphery of the water body and therefore subject to demolition under the Land Revenue Code. Authorities also demolished the illegal farmhouse of Lalu Pathan, alleged mastermind behind the encroachments, who is suspected to have helped illegal immigrants obtain rental accommodation and Aadhaar cards.
Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
Within hours of assuming office, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday initiated a major reshuffle in the police hierarchy, transferring 29 top-level police officers, mostly those who were shifted by the election commission prior to the polls.
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terrorists have entered West Bengal to carry out subversive activities.
A special CBI team had been searching for Kumar, who is now the additional director general of police in the criminal investigation department, across various locations in Kolkata.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
West Bengal is home to 43,000 Durga Pujas, and the business around it is a major economic driver.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Kolkata Police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal, on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
A Karachi-bound cargo vessel from Bangladesh with heavy military supplies, including explosives, was on Friday detained by the police at Diamond Harbour in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, top police officials said.Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said, "It is a consignment of heavy military supplies meant for a consignee in Karachi. Five tonnes of explosives and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition were found after the police detained the vessel."
"The NIA categorically refuted allegations of mala fide in its Bhupatinagar blast case," an agency spokesperson said.
A massive fire that tore through a budget hotel in the congested Mechuapatti area of Burrabazar in central Kolkata on Tuesday night claimed at least 14 lives and left 13 injured, triggering a political blame game and calls for accountability.
The statement by West Bengal Director General of police Naparajit Mukherjee, regarding a nexus between Naxals and the Inter-Services Intelligence is something that needs to be taken seriously, says Vicky Nanjappa.
Former West Bengal Director General of Police Dinesh Bajpai will take on the veteran cricket administrator in the Cricket Association of Bengal's election for president.
West Bengal Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said the police had found Pandrol clips (which tie the tracks) open along a 50-metre stretch at the accident spot and the blast theory was yet to be confirmed.
West Bengal and Odisha have evacuated lakhs of people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm 'Yaas' is nearing the coast and is expected to make landfall near Dhamra Port in Bhadrak district early on Wednesday morning.
"I cannot say for sure. There are several people who are known as Kishenji. There is also a possibility of existence of dummies," West Midnapore SP Manoj Kumar Verma told PTI.
Heavy-duty gas cutters were being brought from Panagarh to extricate people trapped in the mangled coaches of the Vananchal Express which was hit in the rear by the Uttarbanga Express early on Monday morning at the Sainthia station.
The state government, however, has not sent any report as sought by the Union home ministry on "serious security lapses" during Nadda's two-day visit to West Bengal.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday set aside the promulgation of prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC at Sandeshkhali, which has been witnessing protests over the last one week.
The Bharatiya Janata Party dubbed the arrest as scripted and claimed he was in the safe custody of West Bengal Police.
West Bengal had witnessed violence and arson from December 13 to 17 during protests against the new citizenship law.
In a communication to the West Bengal chief secretary, the ministry of home affairs said as per the IPS cadre rules, the Centre prevails over the state government in case of any dispute.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condemned the violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accusing the opposition of instigating the violence. He also criticized the opposition for their alleged silence over the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and emphasized the BJP's commitment to protecting Hindus.
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.
Eight persons died in the early hours of Tuesday after their houses caught fire at Rampurhat in Birbhum district, police said.
A two-day conference of state police chiefs of the northeastern region convened by the Intelligence Bureau has gone underway in Guwahati with an objective to have a coordinated strategy to tackle cross-border and inter-state movement of insurgents, Maoists threat and check fake currency and arms proliferation through borders in the region.
The West Bengal government has taken a serious note of the situation in certain areas under the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, including Bhatpara, which has witnessed a series of clashes since May 19, when the bypoll was held in the assembly constituency.
An air of gloom hangs in the Bogtui village post-arson as most villagers have moved out from their homes and several others are making moves.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani in connection with an alleged cash-for-queries scam case, official sources said Tuesday.
The National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the West Bengal government and the state's police chief on Thursday in connection with the killing of eight people in Birbhum district, and sought a report within four weeks, detailing the steps taken to ensure the safety of people, officials said.