A girl was killed after being allegedly raped in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, after which a mob blocked road traffic and damaged the car of a ruling Trinamool Congress member of Parliament in protest against police's alleged inaction to save the victim.
A steady drizzle in the evening brought premature end to evening practice sessions of Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on the eve of their IPL 2025 opening match on Saturday.
The high court also instructed both the Mamata government and the Centre to submit detailed reports on the situation. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on April 17.
The situation in these violence-hit places remained tense on Saturday morning, but no untoward incident was reported, officials said.
A gas cylinder blast in a house at Dholahat in West Bengal's Pathar Pratima has claimed eight lives, including four children. The explosion, which occurred on Monday night, triggered a massive fire, intensified by the presence of stacked firecrackers inside the house. The incident has sparked a political controversy, with the BJP demanding a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe and the TMC maintaining that the police are already investigating and that the state government has a "zero-tolerance " policy towards such incidents. The blast has also raised concerns about the safety of illegal firecracker manufacturing units, which have been linked to several recent accidents in the state.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
The court observed that illegal immigration will be on the rise in view of the present unstable situation in Bangladesh.
Former Lok Sabha MP and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arjun Singh alleged that a group of people threw stones, hurled bombs and fired multiple gunshots at his office-cum-residence Meghna More in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas around 8.30 am on Friday.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
More than 150 express/passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of the severe cyclonic storm, an SER official said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said.
Places of peace were discovered in Odisha. And Sikkim.
The Noapara police station in West Bengal holds a unique historical connection to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who was briefly detained there in 1931. The police station commemorates this event every year on Netaji's birth anniversary. The station preserves the cup and saucer used to offer Netaji tea, which he refused, as well as a memorial room with photographs and books about his life. Visitors can pay homage to Netaji at the memorial room and a statue of him stands proudly outside the station.
A woman is suspected to have died of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra on Wednesday, while 16 new cases of the rare nerve disorder were reported in the state, health officials said.
While speaking at the programme at the EZCC, Chakraborty said, "In 2026, the masnad will be ours, and we will do everything to achieve the goal."
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
According to weather officials, wind speeds along and off the Odisha-West Bengal coasts are anticipated to reach 60 km/h from October 23, increasing to 120 km/h from October 24 night to October 25 morning.
Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh, accused of sexual abuse and land grab in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, was on Thursday suspended from the party for six years, TMC leader Derek O'Brien said.
After an old video clip of a girl being assaulted by a group of people in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district came into circulation, the police initiated a suo motu case and arrested two persons.
Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate their party candidates' victory in the West Bengal panchayat elections 2023, at counting centres in North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Birbhum on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
Villagers alleged that a seven-month-old child was snatched from her mother's lap and thrown away by miscreants in Sandeshkhali.
Modi's visits in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls come amid an intense political row involving the BJP and the state's ruling Trinamool Congress after several women in Sandeshkhali accused the regional party's strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexual assault".
In order to strengthen security at the International Borders in wake of Independence Day next week, an operational conference, chaired by ADG, BSF, Eastern Command was held at the Force's Kolkata office, the statement said.
A constable was seriously injured after he was attacked by unidentified miscreants at a police camp in Sandeshkhali area of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district in the early hours of Tuesday, an officer said.
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.
Officials said the personnel of the force stopped about 120-140 Bangladeshi citizens who were attempting to cross over to the Indian side from multiple locations in the eastern state.
A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Remal, on Saturday evening and is likely to turn severe before making landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
About 68 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 5 pm on Wednesday in 38 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting in the second and final phase ended, officials said.
A civic volunteer, identified as Chandan Das (31), died on the spot when he allegedly touched a live wire in Bud Bud in Purba Bardhaman district. The incident happened when he was out with a police team, they said.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has also appealed to political parties and people from all walks of life to come together and organise a 'peace visit' to trouble-torn Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district to show solidarity with the aggrieved women.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
Local women with sticks and brooms in their hands took out processions in different areas of Sandeshkhali as the protests intensified on the second day on Friday.
NCST acting vice-chairperson Ananta Nayak said they have also received complaints against a politician, which they would include in their report to the President, the official added.
The report indicates that the miscreants forcibly entered her house and physically assaulted her. Shockingly, they also snatched her infant daughter and callously threw her away, the commission said.
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.
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
Under the stewardship of the then TMC national general secretary Mukul Roy and North 24 Parganas TMC district president Jyotipriyo Mullick, he joined the party and quickly ascended in power, becoming a close associate of Mullick.
He assured that the "tortured" women from Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district could seek refuge in Raj Bhavan, where they would be provided with shelter, food, and security.
Three ED officers were injured and several of their vehicles vandalised, as hundreds of supporters of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh attacked them on January 5, when the team went to conduct a raid at his house in Sandeshkhali in connection with alleged irregularities in the state's ration system.
"Does God send his emissary to sponsor hooliganism in the name of CAA or stop funds for 100-day work or prevent rural houses from being built? Does God go back on his promise of depositing Rs 15 lakhs in people's bank accounts? God cannot do such things," she added.
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