Cooch Behar (WB), March 21 (ANI): West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose reviewed the situation in Dinhata area of Cooch Behar district on March 20. A clash had erupted between Trinamool Congress and BJP workers in Dinhata on March 19. The police had to resort to lathi charge to control the situation. A sub-divisional police officer was injured in the incident.
Tag: Cooch Behar
-
Class IX student who was abducted, gang-raped a week ago dies in Bengal
Express News Service
KOLKATA: A Class IX student in Cooch Behar, who was allegedly abducted while returning from school and gang-raped a week ago, died on Wednesday in a state-run hospital in the north Bengal district. Police arrested five suspects in connection with the gruesome incident.
The death of the teenager triggered a tug-of-war between the BJP and TMC as both parties wanted to stand beside the family of the victim.
The deceased went into a coma and was shifted to the state government’s hospital from a private healthcare unit where her family found her. A medical examination of the victim revealed she went into a coma because of inadequate supply of oxygen to her brain during the sexual assault.
According to a complaint lodged with the police by the family members of the victim, it was learnt that she did not return home from school on July 18.
“They searched the area and contacted their relatives to know the whereabouts of the girl but all their efforts were in vain. It was on July 21 when the family members came to know that the girl was admitted to a nursing home in Cooch Behar-II block in an unconscious state. They rushed there and shifted the girl to MJN Medical College and Hospital in the district headquarters,” said a police officer quoting the family’s complaint.
The local leaders of the Trinamool Congress intervened and admitted the unconscious girl to another private healthcare unit but as her condition deteriorated, she was again shifted to the medical college and hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
“The girl was pronounced dead by the doctors of the hospital on Tuesday morning,” said the police officer.
As the news of the girl’s death spread, local BJP leaders visited her family members and promised to stand by them.
“We have no faith in the police administration. We want to help the girl’s family, but the local leaders of the TMC took the victim’s father away from the hospital premises and we are not being allowed to meet him,” said a BJP leader in Cooch Behar.
The police arrested five youths, including key suspect Bappa Burman, residing in the same area where the girl’s house is located. “The four other suspects are Bappa’s associates,” said another police officer.
Another incident of sexual assault on a minor was reported in Chanchal in Malda district.
“The girl received a call on her cellphone and was asked to come out of her home by one of her friends on Tuesday evening. Her family members alleged, the person, who called her, assaulted her sexually. We started searching for the suspect who is on the run,” said a police officer in Malda.
KOLKATA: A Class IX student in Cooch Behar, who was allegedly abducted while returning from school and gang-raped a week ago, died on Wednesday in a state-run hospital in the north Bengal district. Police arrested five suspects in connection with the gruesome incident.
The death of the teenager triggered a tug-of-war between the BJP and TMC as both parties wanted to stand beside the family of the victim.
The deceased went into a coma and was shifted to the state government’s hospital from a private healthcare unit where her family found her. A medical examination of the victim revealed she went into a coma because of inadequate supply of oxygen to her brain during the sexual assault.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
According to a complaint lodged with the police by the family members of the victim, it was learnt that she did not return home from school on July 18.
“They searched the area and contacted their relatives to know the whereabouts of the girl but all their efforts were in vain. It was on July 21 when the family members came to know that the girl was admitted to a nursing home in Cooch Behar-II block in an unconscious state. They rushed there and shifted the girl to MJN Medical College and Hospital in the district headquarters,” said a police officer quoting the family’s complaint.
The local leaders of the Trinamool Congress intervened and admitted the unconscious girl to another private healthcare unit but as her condition deteriorated, she was again shifted to the medical college and hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
“The girl was pronounced dead by the doctors of the hospital on Tuesday morning,” said the police officer.
As the news of the girl’s death spread, local BJP leaders visited her family members and promised to stand by them.
“We have no faith in the police administration. We want to help the girl’s family, but the local leaders of the TMC took the victim’s father away from the hospital premises and we are not being allowed to meet him,” said a BJP leader in Cooch Behar.
The police arrested five youths, including key suspect Bappa Burman, residing in the same area where the girl’s house is located. “The four other suspects are Bappa’s associates,” said another police officer.
Another incident of sexual assault on a minor was reported in Chanchal in Malda district.
“The girl received a call on her cellphone and was asked to come out of her home by one of her friends on Tuesday evening. Her family members alleged, the person, who called her, assaulted her sexually. We started searching for the suspect who is on the run,” said a police officer in Malda.
-
Bengal panchayat polls: Abhishek starts TMC’s mass outreach campaign in Cooch Behar
By PTI
KOLKATA: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday started a mass outreach campaign of the ruling party in West Bengal from Cooch Behar district, with an eye on the upcoming rural polls in the state.
Banerjee, who is TMC’s national general secretary, commenced the campaign, ‘Trinamool ey Nabajowar’ (new wave in Trinamool), by offering puja at Madhaikhal Kali Mandir in the Dinhata assembly constituency.
He spoke to locals and heard of their grievances.
“He offered puja at the temple and then met villagers, who spoke about their grievances. He told them that their problems would be resolved soon. Abhishek also assured them that if the Centre doesn’t clear dues under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the state will build houses for the poor people,” a TMC leader said.
Abhishek, who is the nephew of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and considered the party’s number two leader, will travel around 3,500 km during the two-month outreach campaign and hold more than 250 rallies across the state.
The TMC MP had earlier said that the outreach campaign aims at reaching out to the people and empowering them to decide on party candidates for the ensuing panchayat polls through secret ballots.
During the day, he will address three back-to-back rallies in Dinhata, Sitai and Sitalkuchi assembly constituencies.
Later in the evening, Banerjee will participate in a convention and ‘Gram Banglar Motamot (Opinion of rural Bengal) event, where locals will choose TMC candidates for the rural polls through secret ballots.
KOLKATA: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday started a mass outreach campaign of the ruling party in West Bengal from Cooch Behar district, with an eye on the upcoming rural polls in the state.
Banerjee, who is TMC’s national general secretary, commenced the campaign, ‘Trinamool ey Nabajowar’ (new wave in Trinamool), by offering puja at Madhaikhal Kali Mandir in the Dinhata assembly constituency.
He spoke to locals and heard of their grievances.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“He offered puja at the temple and then met villagers, who spoke about their grievances. He told them that their problems would be resolved soon. Abhishek also assured them that if the Centre doesn’t clear dues under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the state will build houses for the poor people,” a TMC leader said.
Abhishek, who is the nephew of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and considered the party’s number two leader, will travel around 3,500 km during the two-month outreach campaign and hold more than 250 rallies across the state.
The TMC MP had earlier said that the outreach campaign aims at reaching out to the people and empowering them to decide on party candidates for the ensuing panchayat polls through secret ballots.
During the day, he will address three back-to-back rallies in Dinhata, Sitai and Sitalkuchi assembly constituencies.
Later in the evening, Banerjee will participate in a convention and ‘Gram Banglar Motamot (Opinion of rural Bengal) event, where locals will choose TMC candidates for the rural polls through secret ballots.
-
Gauhati HC seeks status report on refugees who fled to Assam after Bengal post-poll violence
By Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has asked the Assam government as well as the Centre to file a detailed reply on the status of some 400 people from West Bengal who fled to Assam in the face of violence following the declaration of Assembly election results on May 2.After hearing two public interest litigations filed by individuals, Abhijit Sarma from Assam’s Dibrugarh and Ravi Chhedilal from Mumbai, the bench of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak also sought the status of the condition of children, lodged in makeshift camps in Assam’s Dhubri, from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
The matter will be heard again on July 14 after the court receives the replies within three weeks.
When the people, including women, from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district crossed over to Dhubri over a period of three days, the Assam administration had sheltered them in two makeshift camps.
ALSO READ | 162.5 cm tall IRS officer who wants to join IPS accuses medical board of selling him short
On May 14, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had visited one of the two camps and met the inmates.
“These people are so terrified that they told me they could be attacked because I met them. They are facing political vendetta for opposing the ruling party (Trinamool Congress),” he had said then.
Meanwhile, Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said the party would demand the imposition of President’s rule in West Bengal.
“The BJP believes in democracy. If (West Bengal Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee fails to restore it in her state, we will not only demand the imposition of President’s Rule but will also launch an agitation in Assam,” Dass said.
-
Bengal Guv visits Cooch Behar, says state facing twin challenges of pandemic and post-poll violence
By PTI
COOCH BEHAR: Claiming that people, who cast their votes as per their choice, are being subjected to attacks in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said while the country is facing the COVID crisis, the state is grappling with the twin challenges of the pandemic and the post-poll violence.The governor said he was shocked by incidents of attack following the West Bengal assembly elections, and decided to visit various places affected by the post-poll violence in the interest of the people.
“The country is facing the COVID crisis, and West Bengal is facing twin challenges of the pandemic and unprecedented post-poll violence only on the ground that some people decided to vote as per their own choice,” he said while embarking on a visit to various places in Cooch Behar district.
He said the Mamata Banerjee government must ensure that everyone who took the law into their hands must be brought to justice.
The opposition BJP has been accusing the Trinamool Congress of indulging in violence against their supporters, a charge which the ruling party has also brought against the saffron camp in the state.
“History will judge Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister. History will also judge Jagdeep Dhankhar, the governor, and it will judge the bureaucracy and the media,” he said.
Claiming that he did not get any response from the state government despite efforts being made to get information about the post-poll violence, Dhankhar said the state government must provide him with the requisite particulars under Article 167 of the Constitution.
“I will perform my constitutional duties unhindered, undeterred by any situation whatsoever,” he said.
The chief minister and the governor got involved in a war of words on Wednesday after Mamata Banerjee wrote to him claiming that his planned visit to the post-poll violence- affected Cooch Behar district violates norms, while Dhankhar hit back saying he was discharging duties mandated by the Constitution.
“I find from social media that you are unilaterally proceeding to Cooch Behar district on May 13, and sadly, I find that to be violative of the long-standing norms as evolved over several decades.
“I, therefore, would expect you will kindly follow the well-established norms of protocol, and desist from abrupt decisions with regards to field visits,” Banerjee said in a letter to the governor.
Soon after receiving the letter, Dhankhar wrote back saying that he has been following the Constitution since taking oath as the governor and his visit to Cooch Behar was to share the pain and agony of the people suffering from post-poll violence.
Speaking to reporters at the Cooch Behar airport after alighting from a BSF helicopter by which he travelled from Kolkata, the governor claimed that the chief minister, who took oath on May 5, has full power to control the situation.
He claimed that those who did not give political support to the ruling party were subjected to attacks and atrocities, and women and children of their families were also not spared.
Claiming that the post-poll situation in the state took a grim turn owing to the “unfortunate behaviour of the chief minister”, the governor alleged, “During the elections, she had publicly said the central armed police force will not be there always and she will see after that.
“This kind of challenge and behaviour is not acceptable under the constitution,” the governor said.
He urged the chief minister to make constructive decisions and said this is not the time for confrontation between the state and the Centre.
While Banerjee had termed the incident of firing by the CAPF in Sitalkuchi in which four persons were killed as “genocide”, she “did not say a word about other violent events” in different parts of the state, Dhankhar alleged.
Five persons were killed, four of them in firing by central armed police force personnel and a first-time voter in firing by goons, at Sitalkuchi on April 10 during the fourth phase of the assembly poll in West Bengal.
Post-poll violence has been reported from various places in the state, with both the opposition BJP and the ruling TMC accusing each other of indulging in attacks on their workers.
Banerjee had on May 6 said 16 people have been killed in the recent clashes between the two parties.
Accusing the chief minister of being “partisan”, he said that “she acts with a political goal in mind”.
Dhankhar is scheduled to visit Sitalkuchi, Mathabhanga, Sitai and Dinhata in Cooch Behar district during the day.
The governor said he will on Friday visit camps in Assam where BJP workers, who reportedly fled from West Bengal owing to the post-poll violence, have been staying.
-
CID takes over probe in Cooch Behar CISF firing that killed four
By PTI
KOLKATA: West Bengal CID Friday took over the case of killing of four people in firing by the CISF during polling in Cooch Behar district on April 10, a senior government official said.A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has been constituted to conduct the probe in the incident which happened during the fourth phase of polling at Sitalkuchi.
The incident had set off an acrimonious war of words between the ruling TMC and challenger BJP, and triggered public outrage.
Investigators will visit booth number 126/5 in Jorpatki in Sitalkuchi assembly constituency where CISF personnel had opened fire after they allegedly came under attack from a group of villagers.
The TMC has claimed those killed were its supporters who were gunned down when they were standing in queue to cast their votes.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also the TMC chief, had called the incident a “genocide”.
Besides talking to witnesses and recording their statements, the SIT will algo go through vodeo footage of the incident.
A video clip has emerged on social media, the officer said, adding a forensic test will likely be conducted to establish its authenticity.
The SIT will also talk to officers and personnel of the local police station who rushed to the scene soon after the incident.
The Election Commission had cancelled the voting at the polling station after the incident and imposed a ban on entry of politicians into Cooch Behar for 72 hours apprehending trouble.
Banerjee had visited Sitalkuchi on Wednesday and met the families of the victims.
PTI SCH SK SK 04161304 NNNN
-
West Bengal government to start probe into Cooch Behar killings to track, punish culprits: Mamata
Banerjee lamented that she could not meet the next of kin of the deceased earlier owing to a 72-hour ban on entry of political leaders in Cooch Behar.
-
WB polls: Mamata Banerjee says BJP killing own cadre, promises to probe Cooch Behar shooting
By PTI
RANAGHAT (West Bengal): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in an apparent jibe at state BJP leaders, said on Monday that those threatening of more Cooch Behar-like killings should be banned politically.She wondered what kind of human beings are politicians who say that there will be more Sitalkuchi-like incidents and that the death toll should have been higher.
Four people were killed in CISF firing after they “attempted to snatch the rifles of the central forces” while voting was underway in Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district in the fourth phase on Saturday, sparking a political storm in the state.
ALSO READ: NRC will have no impact on Gorkhas, says Amit Shah at Kalimpong
“Some political leaders are threatening of more Sitalkuchi-like incidents, while others are saying that the death toll should have been higher. I am stunned and shocked to see such reactions. What are these leaders up to? They should be politically banned,” Banerjee said, while addressing an election rally at Ranaghat in Nadia district.
BJP leaders were seen referring to the Cooch Behar killings and threatening that more such incidents may happen if “naughty boys” take the law into their hands and that more than four people should have been killed in the firing.
Banerjee alleged that the BJP is killing its own workers and leaders and damaging their vehicles “to bring a bad name to the TMC”.
“Before conspiring to kill four persons in CISF firing, the BJP, a party of murderers, killed a Rajbongshi brother,” she said.
Apart from the four people who were killed in CISF firing, another man was shot dead outside a polling booth by unidentified persons in the same Sitalkuchi assembly constituency area.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has alleged that Banerjee paid tributes only to the four persons killed in CISF firing because they were from the minority community.
Accusing the BJP of communalising the murder of young voters on polling day, Banerjee said, “You cannot succeed in your nefarious game to divide the people of West Bengal. This is not Uttar Pradesh or Gujarat.”
ALSO READ: Mamata Banerjee ‘clean bowled’, BJP completed century already: PM Modi at Bardhaman
Alleging that Shah had hatched the conspiracy of Cooch Behar killings with the full knowledge of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the feisty TMC leader said, “After returning to power, I will order a probe to unravel the sequence of events, who were involved, how it all started, whether any rumour was at play…everything.”
She urged people not to vote for a party that encourages “firing on voters standing in a queue”.
Claiming that her government has given land rights to people settled in refugee colonies in the state, the chief minister said, “The BJP has sent 14 lakh Bengalis in Assam to detention camps. The same fate may await you if they come to power in West Bengal.”
She asserted that though she is a Brahmin woman and a devout Hindu who knows mantras by heart, caste identity is not important to her.
“I consider myself inseparable from Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, SCs, STs, OBCs and all other communities. We don’t exclude anyone in the name of caste, community or religion. Unlike the BJP, we consider everyone as humans,” she said.
“One of the BJP MPs, contesting the assembly polls, has herself damaged the windscreen of her car to give a bad name to the TMC,” she said, in an apparent reference to an incident in which the car of saffron party leader Locket Chatterjee was damaged during a TMC protest in Chunchura assembly seat.
-
West Bengal polls: EC bans entry of politicians in Cooch Behar district for 72 hours
By Online Desk
In a major development following the fourth phase of the West Bengal elections which was marred by violence, the Election Commission banned the entry of politicians in Cooch Behar district for the next three days in a bid to prevent another possible law and order flare up.The EC has extended the “silence period” from 48 hours to 72 hours
The move comes after the first major outbreak of political violence during the West Bengal elections where five persons were killed and five candidates were attacked during the fourth phase of the elections to 44 seats, on Saturday.
ALSO READ | Bengal poll booth violence: CM Mamata Banerjee questions central forces’ version, orders CID probe
Four people were killed as central forces opened fire allegedly after coming under attack from locals, who “attempted to snatch their rifles”, in Cooch Behar district earlier today, police said in a report by PTI.
The EC order which is being implemented with immediate effect stated, “The Election Commission of India further directs that the silence period for phase 5 (i.e.for polls scheduled on April 17) shall be extended to 72 hours and no campaigning shall be permitted during 72 hours before the close of the poll in order to ensure the conduct of free, fair and peaceful elections.”
The highest turnout of 79.73 per cent was registered in Cooch Behar district, followed by 76.2 per cent polling in Hoogly.
(With inputs from PTI)