Observing that there are "definite and proved" allegations that complaints of the victims of violence in the aftermath of the West Bengal assembly polls were not even registered, the Calcutta high court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into all alleged cases of heinous crimes like rape and murder, while accepting the recommendations of a National Human Rights Commission panel.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
The Supreme Court Tuesday asked the Centre and West Bengal government to respond to a plea seeking directions to prevent the alleged exodus due to 'state-sponsored' violence after the assembly polls, constituting a Special Investigating Team to probe the issue and take action against culprits.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
In yet another deadly attack on Indians and Indian-Americans in the United States in recent months, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India and a student of Washington University, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film The Kerala Story to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", a senior official said in Kolkata.
Security forces were maintaining a strict vigil across West Bengal in view of Hanuman Jayanti celebrations on Thursday, officials said.
Questioning the team's authority headed by a former Patna high court judge, Banerjee pointed out that Ram Navami processions organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party had carried arms and driven tractors and deliberately taken routes where 'Namaz' was being offered.
With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.
The unrest in the Sandeshkhali region of West Bengal ballooned into a major political row on Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the saffron camp of fomenting trouble in the area, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused her party Trinamool Congress and the state government of being complicit in crimes against women in the area.
Following the direction of the Calcutta high court, the West Bengal government on Wednesday decided to deploy paramilitary forces in three districts of Hooghly, Barrackpore and Kolkata during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations, a senior official said.
The government is contemplating imposing curfew in some areas of Kolkata at night.
An angry Nadda called the attack 'unprecedented' and alleged the state has slipped into 'complete lawlessness and goonda raj'. He also said the violence reflected the 'frustration' of the Mamata Banerjee government. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee insinuated the attack was staged.
Modi, while addressing a rally in Barasat, said whatever happened with women in Sandeshkhali "is a matter of shame".
Communalising law and order situations is fraught with danger; we need to tread cautiously. Interjecting a communal angle into what is purely a law and order issue does nobody good; it muddies the picture, fuels unrequited passion and distracts us from the core issue, says Vivek Gumaste.
The state government will help all those whose properties were vandalised in the clashes, she said.
Three persons were shot dead and several others were injured as violence and arson marked the conclusion of nomination filing for the three-tier West Bengal panchayat polls slated next month.
While addressing a rally at Alipurduar, Banerjee accused the Election Commission of removing the deputy inspector general of police of Murshidabad at the behest of the BJP.
His comments come against the backdrop of a campaign by Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, which has claimed that applying for CAA would turn legal citizens into foreigners.
Clashes were reported in Rishra on Sunday evening during a Ram Navami procession in which BJP national vice president Dilip Ghosh and party's Pursurah MLA Biman Ghosh were present. The MLA was injured and hospitalised.
The TMC has won in 34,560 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 705 seats, according to the SEC as of 11.30 am on Wednesday.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shelled out Rs 60,000 from his own pocket for the evacuation of five local students stuck in violence-hit Manipur, an official spokesperson of the government said on Monday.
Violence broke out at the Hari Mohan Ghosh College in Kolkata where nomination forms for union election were being distributed this morning.
Notwithstanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's warning of strict action if work is not resumed, the junior doctors carried on with their agitation.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 543 and the number of cases climbed to 17,265 in the country on Monday, according to the Union health ministry.
The Centre on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it has transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the probe into a case related to two women being paraded naked in strife-torn Manipur, saying the approach of the government was of zero tolerance towards any crimes against women.
India pacer Mohammed Shami on Wednesday got a temporary relief from Kolkata Police to join his Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils following a three-hour interrogation in Kolkata.
Mohun Bagan and East Bengal played out a drab goalless draw in the return leg I-League derby which was watched by just one fourth capacity crowd at Yuba Bharati Krirngan (YBK) in Kolkata on Saturday.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Sandeshkhali leader Gangadhar Koyal on Friday moved the Calcutta high court, claiming that technology-aided videos mimicking his voice were being circulated in a bid to defame him, and prayed for security be provided to him by central agencies.
As the final five phases of polls draw closer, rift among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, Congress-Left combine and the Trinamool Congress, which are fighting separately has intensified, triggering a fierce contest across half of the remaining 36 constituencies in West Bengal driven by local issues such as Sandeshkhali and the SSC scam.
Three persons, including two supporters of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), were killed and several policemen injured in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district as a clash broke out outside a centre where counting of votes for rural polls was going on, police said on Wednesday.
Tuhin Mondal, the content creator, was arrested from his house in Bapujinagar in Taherpur police station area.
Trinamool supporters were seen holding placards and shouting slogans in protest against the renewed violence at Nandigram on Sunday that claimed at least one life and left several injured.
A procession in Kolkata, here and below, commemorating the anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's return from Chicago after delivering his historic speech at the World Parliament of Religions.
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.
Banerjee, clad in her trademark white saree, greeted hundreds of people who thronged the streets during the march which took place amidst heightened security.
As Manipur grapples with protracted ethnic strife, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and the state government to ensure uninterrupted supply of basic commodities like food and medicines to people facing economic blockade in certain areas of the border state.
The apex court, which dismissed the pleas filed by the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission (SEC) challenging the high court order, said the tenor of the high court order was ultimately to ensure free and fair election in the state.
Meanwhile, ED officers faced resistance again during the arrest of TMC leader and former Bongaon Municipality chairman Shankar Adhya on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
