A large voter turnout of more than 80 per cent despite sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of vote fraud on Thursday marked the second phase of West Bengal assembly polls.
Villagers alleged that a seven-month-old child was snatched from her mother's lap and thrown away by miscreants in Sandeshkhali.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday shown black flags at Sitalkuchi, where four villagers died after firing by central forces during the elections, while 'go back' slogans were raised at Dinhata during his visit to Cooch Behar district to meet people allegedly affected in post poll violence.
'Rather than assuaging the feelings of the Hindus accommodated in schools and hospitals, she calls a meeting of imams and tries to assuage them.'
The three-member Delhi police team went to Sutahata and Mahishadal police stations and other places to which Mohammed Ansar, the alleged main conspirator in the riot, is connected.
The sources said Bose briefed Shah about the prevailing situation and his assessment of the polls marred by violence that claimed 15 lives.
The 17-year-old girl, whose body was found in a canal in Kaliaganj police station area on Friday, knew the man, Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Sana Akhtar said, identifying him as the prime accused.
The CBI has carried out searches at 15 locations in connection with the case related to attempt to murder of Dharma Mandal who suffered serious injuries after his family was attacked on May 14 night at their home in Nadia district's Chapra.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the order of the Calcutta high court handing over the probe into incidents of violence during Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal to the National Investigation Agency.
Outgoing West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi on Sunday called upon all political parties to stop violence as the state would suffer 'irretrievable damage' if it was not brought to an end.
The iconic East Bengal Football Club called on the Bangladesh government to take immediate and effective measures to safeguard vulnerable communities.
Protests erupted in various parts of West Bengal on Sunday over alleged atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh. Demonstrations were held in Kolkata, Kanthi, Kakdwip, Sandeshkhali and Purulia, with protesters calling for the release of Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das and boycotting Bangladeshi goods. They condemned the alleged targeting of Hindus in Bangladesh and the hate-driven narratives against India. The protests also saw the burning of Dhakai Jamdani sarees from Bangladesh.
The situation remained tense but peaceful during the day, amid heavy police deployment in the area.
A Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was shot dead and two others, including a local committee president, were critically injured in a gun attack in Malda district, West Bengal, on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the Kaliaganj area when TMC workers were attending a program. Police suspect factionalism within the party could be behind the attack, while senior TMC leaders blame external forces. The killing comes less than a fortnight after the murder of another TMC councillor in the same district, adding to the tension in the area ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections.
Terming the rape and murder case of a medic at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as horrific, the Supreme Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the West Bengal government over delay in filing first information report (FIR) in the matter.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the revival and prosecution of ten criminal cases related to murders in Nandigram and Khejuri during an anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. The court deemed the West Bengal government's decision to withdraw prosecution in these cases, involving the deaths of at least ten individuals, as unlawful. The bench emphasized that murders had indeed occurred and that allowing the prosecution to withdraw under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code would not be in the public interest. The court stated that violence in any form should be eschewed in a democracy and that a state must exhibit zero tolerance towards it. The court set aside the state government's decision to withdraw prosecution and directed the public prosecutor to take appropriate measures within a fortnight.
Senior police officials said they received a complaint and are looking into it.
Radical Islamist networks are deliberately targeting Muslim youths embedded within the country's professional and academic ecosystems, leveraging their skills, mobility, and digital reach to quietly strengthen operational capabilities. This trend highlights a dangerous evolution in terror recruitment -- one that exploits ideological faultlines, online echo chambers and transnational radical Islamist influences to attract individuals who outwardly embody India's modern and aspirational narrative, points out Dr Kanchan Lakshman.
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.
She is the 21st chief minister of West Bengal and 8th person to hold the office.
No government official does his work. If one does not have sources, he cannot get his work done, she said.
West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said he would visit places in Nandigram, where post-poll violence was allegedly reported.
The committee, which was formed by the National Human Rights Commission chairman on a direction by a five-judge bench of the high court, also said that these cases should be tried outside the state.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the formation of a three-member committee to identify and rehabilitate people displaced by violence during protests over the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Murshidabad district. The court also extended the deployment of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in the area. The committee will consist of officials from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), and the State Legal Services Authority (SLSA). It will be responsible for identifying displaced persons, assessing damage to properties, collecting FIR data, facilitating FIR filing, and overseeing the well-being of displaced individuals. The state government has been instructed to provide necessary infrastructure to the committee and report on its progress by May 15. The court also directed the state to formulate a rehabilitation scheme for displaced persons, including the construction of damaged houses and shops, compensation for lost livelihoods, and protection for families of those who died in the violence.
Responding to the 'Women, Reclaim the Night' call given on social media by commoners, college students, home-makers and employees of offices will congregate in key thoroughfares in small towns and big cities, including in various parts of Kolkata.
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'.
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.
The draft legislation seeks capital punishment for persons convicted of rape if their actions result in the victim's death or leave her in a vegetative state.
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.
Somen Mitra, the one time pillar of the Trinamool Congress and now Congress candidate from Kolkata North constituency, can't help smiling. The SC's order directing the CBI to probe the Saradha scam is the fruit of his hard and lonely battle. On the day when 17 constituencies in the state go to polls, Mitra speaks to Rediff.com's Indrani Roy about the impact of the Saradha scam on the elections and his relationship with his former party chief.
The state government in its special leave petition alleged that it did not expect fair and just investigation by the central agency which is busy foisting cases against the functionaries of ruling Trinamool Congress Party.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Fairs are commonplace in the festive season but in tribal West Midnapore, which falls in the erstwhile Maoist-hit Jangalmahal area, it is child marriage fairs which are drawing large crowds.
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.
The governor had opened a 'Peace Room' at the Raj Bhavan to address violence-related complaints from people in districts during the recently held panchayat elections.
The state police said the situation in Murshidabad is gradually returning to normal, with shops reopening and displaced families starting to come back.
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.
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.
Fresh incidents of stone-throwing by unidentified people on police personnel, deployed in Howrah's Kazipara area which witnessed violence over the Ram Navami procession on Thursday, triggered tension in the area on Friday afternoon, an officer said.
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