West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that some of the 95 Indian fishermen released by Bangladesh after being arrested for illegally entering its waters were beaten up in jail. Banerjee, who was in Sagar Island to oversee preparations for the upcoming Ganga Sagar Mela, felicitated the fishermen and described them as "victims of circumstances". She said some fishermen were limping and told her they were assaulted in jail with their hands tied, resulting in injuries below the waist and legs. She also announced two schemes to help fishermen in the state: 'Samudra Sathi' and 'Matsajibi Bandhu'.
'The police could not save my daughter or bring her justice, but they didn't think twice about beating up women and elderly persons.'
'If she manages to throw out people, go for surgical operations, clean up her image, she will be victorious.'
Banerjee stressed she wished for harmony, fraternal ties and cordial relationship to remain between all communities living in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in West Bengal's Malda district on Thursday morning. Sarkar, popularly known as Babla, was shot multiple times from close range by bike-borne assailants at Jhaljhalia More area. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock over the killing and blamed the callousness of the Malda SP. Two contract killers have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Kolkata Police stopped the trailer launch of 'The Bengal Files', a film based on the 1946 Calcutta Riots, its director Vivek Agnihotri claimed, sparking controversy and allegations of censorship.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Sealdah court's decision to award life imprisonment till death to Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the rape-murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Banerjee said the incident was a "rare, heinous and sensitive crime" and she has been seeking capital punishment for Roy. She said the state government would challenge the verdict and move Calcutta High Court, which has granted permission to file an appeal against the Sealdah court order.
Bharatiya Janata Party dismissed the allegation and said it was only a paper cutting used in a protest.
A year after the RG Kar rape-murder Swarupa Dutt/Rediff look at the city where it happened, Kolkata -- its study in dichotomy, at once the self-proclaimed cultural capital of India as also a petri dish for a peculiar rage that breeds crimes against women.
Parents of the RG Medical College rape victim met CBI Director Praveen Sood to express their dissatisfaction with the agency's probe. They believe more than one person was involved in the rape and murder of their daughter and allege a cover-up. The CBI has challenged the life imprisonment sentence given to the convicted, seeking the death penalty.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Border Security Force (BSF) of allowing infiltrators from Bangladesh into India and claimed it's a deliberate attempt to destabilize the state. Banerjee, who alleges a larger conspiracy by the central government, has also accused some district magistrates and SPs of aiding the BSF in their alleged illegal activities. She plans to send a strongly worded letter to the Centre expressing her concerns and has directed the state police to investigate the matter further.
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India on Tuesday called on Bangladesh to reconsider its decision to demolish the ancestral property of noted filmmaker Satyajit Ray and offered help to preserve the iconic building as it symbolises Bangla cultural 'renaissance'.
Opposition parties allege the Modi government is attempting to turn India into a 'dictatorship' with the introduction of three Bills that seek to provide for removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious charges, and vowed to oppose it 'tooth and nail'.
The West Bengal government has drafted new rules to enhance the security of working women, especially those on night shifts. The rules include setting up a mandatory complaint committee and installing CCTV cameras at workplaces.
No politician should use such language, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Friday as it chastised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her choice of words targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bose is on record that the government cannot evade responsibility and remain silent on the disturbing developments in the state.
Banerjee, who also takes care of the home department, said Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal has offered to resign in the wake of the protests but "we need someone who knows law and order ahead of Durga puja".
The Mamata Banerjee government will table the anti-rape bill in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday.
Banerjee, referring to violence-hit Bangladesh, said she would keep the doors of West Bengal open for people in distress from the neighbouring country and offer them shelter.
Speaking in the assembly after tabling the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024, Banerjee said the Bill aims at quick investigation, fast justice delivery and enhanced punishment of the guilty.
The Odisha government is working to secure copyright for the rituals of Lord Jagannath temple in Puri to protect its traditional cultural expressions, following concerns over untimely celebrations by ISKCON and the declaration of a temple in Digha as 'Jagannath Dham'.
Earlier, Mamata Banerjee appealed to the agitating doctors to join the meeting, amid their demand for live-streaming of the discussions.
The welfare schemes of the government, particularly Lakshmir Bhandar, have had a major impact on the electoral outcome.
Lionel Messi's much-anticipated visit to India has received its final seal of approval with the Argentine superstar set to kick off his three-city tour in Kolkata on December 12.
Instead of using her power to act against the culprits, the chief minister is trying to divert people's attention by holding protests, Asha Devi told PTI.
A female student of primary school was killed in Kaliganj in West Bengal's Nadia district on Monday after bombs were allegedly hurled from a Trinamool Congress victory celebration rally taken out even before the results of the assembly bypoll were officially announced.
Banerjee had on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
The convoy of West Bengal's Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, was allegedly attacked by TMC workers during a protest in Cooch Behar. Bulletproof glasses of Adhikari's vehicle were smashed. TMC denies involvement, calling it a 'well-scripted drama'.
This was the second time in less than a week when the ex-MP and former state BJP chief was absent from a programme of a top BJP leader, the other being the public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Alipurduar in northern West Bengal on May 29.
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The rally was not allowed to proceed towards the South Calcutta Law College, where the 24-year-old student was allegedly gang-raped by three men, including an alumnus of the institute, on June 25.
In a video message, Bose also said he will also socially boycott the chief minister.
Banerjee also appealed to the people of West Bengal not to get provoked over matters concerning the current situation in Bangladesh.
"I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected an end to the RG Kar impasse today. They (junior doctors) came to Nabanna but did not sit for the meeting. I request them to go back to work," Banerjee told a press conference.
The Delhi High Court refused to accept TMC MP Saket Gokhale's written apology in a defamation case against former diplomat Lakshmi Murdeshwar Puri, citing discrepancies and directing him to file a fresh one. The case involves allegations of defamatory utterances and financial impropriety.
Azizul Haque, a prominent figure in India's Naxalite movement, has died at the age of 83. His passing marks the end of an era in Bengal's radical Left history.
Singh was JD-U president when the party was part of the INDIA bloc and used to accompany Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the coalition's meetings.
The victim, in her written complaint to the police, alleged that the security guard did not help her.
A poster with death threats to West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew, party's general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, appeared in Uluberia in West Bengal's Howrah district on Friday, police said.
