A fresh controversy has erupted within the Trinamool Congress (TMC) regarding the leadership of its legislature party, as documents purportedly from two MLA meetings on May 6 and May 19 have surfaced on social media. Rebel Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee has questioned the authenticity of these documents, which list MLAs' attendance and support for the election of the leader of the opposition, amidst ongoing allegations of signature forgery.
The dramatic development marked the culmination of a revolt that began with allegations of forged signatures on a letter proposing a Leader of Opposition and snowballed into an open challenge to the party leadership following the TMC's defeat at the hands of the BJP in the assembly elections.
What began with an apparently chance encounter between rebel TMC MLA Ritabrata Banerjee and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at Banga Bhavan on May 22 ended on Wednesday with 58 MLAs wresting control of the party's legislature wing, electing Ritabrata as their leader and securing recognition from the assembly Speaker.
Police in Kolkata are investigating the murder of Chandranath Rath, a close aide of BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. Multiple special investigation teams have been formed, and CCTV footage is being examined to trace those involved. The probe includes the possibility of contract killers being hired for the crime.
The incident comes two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that its worker Trilochon Mahato, 20, who was found hanging from a tree at Balarampur in the district on May 30, was killed by the Trinamool Congress. However, the Trinamool Congress has denied the allegations and termed it as baseless.
West Bengal is poised to become the rape capital of India, but its chief minister refuses to face reality, says Debosmita Sarkar.
The West Bengal government has ordered a CID probe into the death of a woman and three others falling critically ill after childbirth in a state-run hospital allegedly following the administration of 'expired' intravenous fluid. A 13-member committee will also investigate the matter parallelly. The decisions were taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The CM also holds the health portfolio. "We have asked the CID to investigate the matter. They will look into all aspects and find out whether there were procedural lapses and whether SOPs (standard operating procedures) were properly followed or not," Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said. Pant said the CM held a review meeting with officials of the state health department and gave a clear direction that such negligence in administrative and procedural lapses will not be tolerated. "Strict action will be taken against those found guilty of any procedural lapses or in treatment," he said. Referring to the initial report on the incident submitted by the committee, Pant admitted that "clear violations" of norms were found in this matter. A woman died and four others were critical after the delivery of babies at the Medinipur Medical College and Hospital allegedly due to the administration of expired intravenous fluid, prompting the health department to constitute the panel to investigate the matter.
The EC also ordered the removal of Principal Secretary (Home) Atri Bhattacharya and Additional Director General, CID, Rajiv Kumar from their postings in West Bengal.
Procuring ration card, passport, voter ID cards and documents to establish their Indian citizenship are easy and sleeper cells help illegal immigrants in getting them.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the alleged 'vote chori' (theft)' in the Aland Assembly segment in 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka, has filed a charge sheet naming seven persons, including a former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, his son and his close aide.
A team of CBI officials reached CID headquarters Bhawani Bhawan in Kolkata before 4 pm. But the handover from the state agency took place at around 6:48 pm, despite the Calcutta high court setting a deadline of 4.15 pm.
A team of CID officers were in the process of searching for the victim's body parts at the Krishnamati village in Bhangar where the butcher had led them.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday directed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) be handed over the case of attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali and the custody of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh, as it slammed West Bengal Police for 'totally biased' conduct and said every attempt is being made to delay the probe to 'protect' the accused.
The matter was mentioned before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government, seeking an urgent hearing.
The high court directed the state government to "immediately implement" its Tuesday's judgement to transfer a case on the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at Sandeshkhali to the CBI and hand over custody of the main accused Sheikh to the central agency.
While Christians in Ranaghat insist that ghar wapsi was behind the robbery and rape of a nun at a local convent, the West Bengal CID believes a gang of Bangladeshis was behind the robbery and rape.
The West Bengal government has suspended 12 doctors of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital for negligence following the death of a woman and four others falling ill after childbirth. The incident is alleged to have been caused by the administration of 'expired' intravenous fluid. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job to the family of the deceased woman.
Eleven people were charred to death and four others injured in an explosion in an illegal firecracker unit at Pingla in West Midnapore district.
Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar, who went missing in Kolkata on May 13, was found murdered and three people have been arrested, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Wednesday.
A police team from Purba Medinipur district also visited neighbouring Odisha in search of the absconding factory owner.
The Central Investigation Department will conduct a probe into Monday's train tragedy at Sainthia in West Bengal which left 66 people dead and 89 injured.
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.
Besides Baksh Molla, the CBI also arrested Jaiuddin Molla, the Panchayat Pradhan of Sarberia village, and another person Faruk Akunji.
The case has been handed over to the state CID from Baguiati police station under Bidhannagar police commissionerate, the official said.
The impact of the explosion "was so massive" that the factory, which was being run from a residential building, collapsed, the police said.
Kumar sought seven days time, citing personal reasons, to appear before CBI officers in connection with the case.
'If the INDIA bloc ever forms the government, they will be more than tempted to use such provisions to bring about regime change in BJP-ruled states.'
This is what former Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Dilip Sinha has told West Bengal CID sleuths.
In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed its plea challenging a Calcutta high court order transferring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the probe into the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team in Sandeshkhali, allegedly by supporters of the now suspended TMC local strongman Shahjahan Sheikh.
Jagmohan Dalmiya, Kishore Rungta and Jyoti Bajpai were questioned in connection with the alleged misappropriation of funds from the 1996 World Cup account.
After 11 days, the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department arrested two men in the gang rape of a 71-year-old nun during an attack on a convent in West Bengal's Ranaghat, about 100 km from Kolkata.
The CID had unearthed a child trafficking racket earlier this year under which babies and children were allegedly sold, some to foreigners, through illegal adoption deals.
Rescue officials confirmed casualties in the incident, claiming to have already recovered 5 bodies from the heap of debris where the cracker manufacturing unit once stood.
Four persons have been arrested so far for their alleged involvement in the case involving the trafficking of at least 17 children.
An angry Banerjee slammed a minister, a former Trinamool Congress mayor and a few bureaucrats for their "below-par performance".
The Centre on Friday rejected West Bengal government's request for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the gang rape of a 71-year-old nun at a convent school in Nadia district, a day after the CID achieved a breakthrough in arresting two suspects 12 days after the heinous crime took place.
Whether the age-old cry of kendrer banchana will be able to drown out pangs of Sandeshkhali, the EVM will tell.
The body of Debendra Nath Ray, in his 60s, was found hanging from the ceiling of a verandah outside a shuttered shop near his home in Bindal village in Hemtabad area of the district, police said. Ray had won the Hemtabad (reserved) seat on a Communist Party of India-Marxist ticket in 2016 but later joined the BJP. He had, however, not quit his assembly seat.
A team of CBI officers reached his residence in south Kolkata's Chetla area along with a large contingent of central forces in the morning, officials said.
Four persons, including the wife of the main accused Noor Islam Sheikh alias 'Khora' Badshah, were arrested on Sunday in connection with West Bengal's worst illicit liquor tragedy that claimed over 170 lives in South 24 Parganas district.
