Eleven people were charred to death and four others injured in an explosion in an illegal firecracker unit at Pingla in West Midnapore district.
Speaking at a programme at Kolaghat in West Midnapore district, the chief minister said, "We are against forceful acquisition of land. In West Midnapore district the Haldia Development Authority and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation have land banks. "We will allot land for projects from there."
The flood situation has eased considerably in both West and East Midnapore districts in West Bengal with the major rivers flowing below the danger mark, but the outbreak of diarrhoea in some of the worst-hit areas has become a cause of concern.
Maoists triggered a blast on a stretch of land along the railway track between Midnapore and Godapia Sal stations in West Midnapore district of West Bengal in the wee hours on Monday as the 48-hr bandh called by them began.
Eleven persons were injured in a clash between the Trinamool Congress and Congress party workers at Sabong in West Midnapore district as the first phase of panchayat polls began on Thursday in West Bengal. In another incident, senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Surya Kanto Mishra was involved in an altercation with local Trinamool Congress supporters outside a polling booth at Khadurdah gram panchayat area in West Midnapore district.
"Two security men -- Alok Mondal and Srimanta Banerjee -- of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) were fatally injured in the landmine explosion. The duo was rushed to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital where they were declared brought dead," West Midnapore SP Manoj Kumar Verma told PTI over phone.
The West Bengal government on Monday reinstated its seven senior officials who were removed from their posts early last month on the directive of Election Commission, to their previous postings.
A jawan from the joint security forces was critically injured on Wednesday when Maoists fired at a patrol party while it was engaged in routine combing operations at Birihari forest area in West Midnapore district on the first day of the two-day Naxal- sponsored bandh. Ajay Gupta, a jawan of assistant sub-inspector rank, was rushed to Midnapore medical college hospital in a serious condition, said the police.
A two-day bandh called by the Maoists in six states began on a bloody note with Naxals killing two policemen in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district and five Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters in West Bengal's West Midnapore district.
An alert has been sounded on the Andhra-Orissa border (AOB) and in some Telangana districts of Andhra Pradesh in the wake of the killing of top Maoist leader Kishenji in an encounter.
G M Rao is looking for his son-in-law, who was in the S-3 compartment of the ill-fated Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express, which derailed near Jhargram in West Midnapore district in West Bengal on Friday morning.
For the first time, seven hardcore Maoists from junglemahal, including slain Kishenji's bodyguard, on Wednesday surrendered with firearms before West Bengal police chief in West Midnapore district.
The family members of slain top Maoist leader Kishenji on Friday alleged that he was killed in a fake encounter and demanded that his body be handed over to them for performing the last rites. Molajula Koteswar Rao, 58, better known as Kishenji, was gunned down by security forces in a forest in West Midnapore district of West Bengal. He hailed from Peddapalli in Karimnagar district. =
A day after 26 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and seven were injured in a Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh''s Narayanpur District, the rebels have called for a shutdown in Jharkhand, Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Chhattisgarh.
Four jawans have been killed after Naxals blew up a vehicle carrying Central Reserve Police Force troopers in West Midnapore, West Bengal, on Wednesday.
Women in Birhandi village of West Bengal's West Midnapore District lodged a complaint on Saturday with the sub divisional officer at Jhargram, accusing security personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force of sexually assaulting them.Corroborating their charges, several villagers claimed that paramilitary forces tortured them during the anti-Maoist operations and they allegedly raped ten women in the village.
About 6,500 persons were sheltered in 67 relief camps opened in various districts.
Rediff.com correspondent Indrani Roy Mitra and Photographer Dipak Chakraborty reached the accident site near Jhargram in West Bengal, where a Mumbai-bound train derailed, early on Friday morning. She chronicles the grim situation at ground zero and asks some tough questions.
Improvised cannons and illegal firearms were seized from near a Communist Party of India-Marxist office and another area in West Bengal on Thursday by the police and the joint forces.
Cyclonic storm Yaas is very likely to make landfall near Balasore in north Odisha with a speed of 155 kmph to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, around noon on May 26, the Met department said.
In a revival of Maoist violence in junglemhal after a year-long lull, two Central Reserve Police Force personnel were shot dead by the ultras during an encounter in West Bengal's West Midnapore district on Monday.
The Eastern Railway has cancelled the departure of Howrah-New Delhi AC Special Express for Wednesday.
The West Bengal police on Tuesday interrogated top Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy in a New Delhi jail, after obtaining permission from a local court, in connection with a criminal case registered at West Midnapore district in 2008.Chief Minister of West Bengal Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had a narrow escape on November 2, 2008, when a landmine exploded within minutes of their convoy passing through Baroa near Salboni in Midnapore.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed confidence on Sunday that that the situation in Naxal-hit West Midnapore district in West Bengal would be brought under control in three to four days. Described Naxals as 'cowards', he said they were retreating into the thick forests even as security forces wrested control of areas dominated by them.
The government has sanctioned Rs 95.61 crore to Maoist-affected states, including West Bengal, under the 'Special Assistance Scheme' to carry out speedy development works. The amount has been sanctioned to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.
The anti-Maoist joint operations by Central forces and police at restive Lalgarh in West Midnapore district were not a total success as no major arrest could be made or killings stopped, the West Bengal Government said on Thursday.
Addressing a rally in West Midnapore district, Banerjee asserted that she would rather stay in jail than "remain silent or put up with BJP's misrule".
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Left Front minister and Communist Party of India - Marxist Member of Legislative Assembly Susanta Ghosh. While granting bail, a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Gyan Sudha Misra imposed the condition that Ghosh will not visit any part of West Bengal's West Midnapore district other than his assembly constituency Garbeta. The apex court had allowed his appeal against the denial of bail by the Calcutta high court.
The National Human Rights Commission on Monday asked its investigation unit to collect facts and requisite reports on the killing of Maoist leader Kishenji within six weeks.
Flood situation in West Bengal's six districts remain unchanged, even as the death toll rose to 17 with reports of eight more deaths from different districts on Friday.
Top Maoist leader Kishenji has again become active in West Bengal's Jungle Mahal area, according to intelligence reports. "Kishenji was present in more than one meeting held in Lalgarh and adjacent areas in West Midnapore district in the last half of June, in all probability on June 22 and 23," said the reports. Joint operations in the area have come to a virtual standstill and six teams of the elite CoBRA force have moved to neighbouring Jharkhand.
In a prize catch, the West Bengal police on Tuesday night arrested top Maoist leader Venkateswar Reddy, the suspected mastermind of the attack that killed 24 Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel in Silda in West Midnapore district. Additional Director General of Police of the Criminal Investigation Department Raj Kanojia said Reddy, alias Telugu Dipak, was arrested from Sarshuna on the southern fringes of the city.
A newly-raised armed wing of tribal agitators, aided by Maoists, were responsible for the seven-and-a-half half hour hijack drama of the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in a jungle area of West Midnapore district of West Bengal.
Days after a Trinamool Congress leader courted controversy by throwing wads of currency notes towards skimpily-clad girls dancing at its foundation day event, a freshers' welcome function organised by the party's student wing saw a dancer giving a titillating performance on stage.
Noting that Maoists still have "pockets of influence" in Lalgarh, the government on Saturday said the situation in the strife-torn area in West Bengal was not stable but maintained that paramilitary forces cannot be deployed there indefinitely.
After laying siege over Lalgarh in West Midnapore district of West Bengal, Maoists have now targeted Orissa's Narayanpatna region.
With tribal agitators on warpath, a company of Central force arrived in restive Lalgarh in West Midnapore district on Tuesday as the West Bengal government sought more companies to assist the police.
The Maoists on Friday demanded an independent probe into the circumstances leading to the death of their top leader Kishenji in West Midnapore district.
The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a leader of Maoists-backed the People's Committee against Police Atrocities on Saturday for alleged involvement in derailment of Gyaneswari Express that left 148 people dead in West Midnapore district, the fourth arrest in the case.
Virtually throwing a challenge to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has given a seven-day deadline to them to lay down arms, the Maoists on Wednesday called a 24-hour bandh in Junglemahal on October 22 - the day the deadline ends.
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