Bengal Industries getting sick for extortion by ruling Trinamool Party

Extortion Strangles Haldia Trade

Bengal’s biggest industrial hub is gasping for breath. Toughs owing allegiance to the ruling party are bleeding companies dry. What makes it worse is that there are many factions fighting for the spoils

Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Udit Prasanna Mukherji | TNN 17.11.11

Haldia (East Midnapore): Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL), the flagship of neo-industrialisation, decided to slash its fleet of cars as a costcutting measure in October. It could shed the car fleet, but could not get rid of the drivers. Result: HPL is paying out the wages of these idle drivers engaged by contractors. 
    Mitsubishi Chemicals (MCCPTA) lost one manday because Trinamool Congress goons demanded a huge sum from the transporters on Viswakarma Puja. The extortionists backed down only when the news reached the state secretariat. 
    

On November 1, goons punctured more than 2,000 cartons of edible oil at Emami Biotech

On November 1, Emami Biotech officials were shocked to see that goons had punctured more than 2,000 cartons of edible oil with knives or screwdrivers. The oil spilled all over the floor of factory’s packaging shed. A complaint was lodged at Haldia’s Bhawanipore police station. The loss was worth Rs 10 lakh. Police retrieved a poster addressed to the labour contractor threatening him with dire consequences. 
    The state’s biggest industrial hub, Haldia, is in dire straits. And it’s not just the economic downturn. Extortion by toughs owing allegiance to the ruling party has become a rule in Haldia — only the party changes with the change of guard at Writers’ Buildings. 
    There was a time when companies used to dispatch the wage bills of workers to the Haldia Citu office from where workers on contract got their wages. With the CPM hegemony gone, Trinamoolbacked unions are desperate to gain control of this “gold trove”. Unlike the CPM era, there is no one Laxman Seth in the area. The new extortion regime has given birth to many such Seths who have started flexing their muscles at the slightest pretext to have their way. If some of these local touts enjoy the confidence of Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikary, the budding monarch of Haldia, there are others within the Trinamool to queer Adhikary’s pitch. They all swear by Trinamool MLA Shiuli Saha. Investors ignoring this political parameter are bound to suffer. 
    There is no point looking at a single window solution to this problem. It’s not feasible to come all the way to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee or send an SOS to industries minister Partha Chatterjee for the daily hazards. The politics here revolves around the small-time leaders looking for short-term gains. They are not bothered with the company’s financial health or its future. They want to get their men absorbed in the company payrolls, and not the other way round. And if someone in the Trinamool-backed labour unions takes a pragmatic stance, he runs the risk of getting outnumbered by his factional rivals. 
    The industry has now become a war front with the threats and sabotage turning into full-scale armed clashes to establish hegemony. 
    Managers of industry are now unable to find a method in the madness. They do not know who to negotiate with on wage disputes or other trade union demands. “There is no end to the wheeling-dealing. If we agree to the demands of one 
    faction, we 
    earn the wrath of the other. And yet another group comes up with another charter of demands with a vengeance. We are facing threats and counter threats. In the Left regime, we knew that dealing with the Citu was the ‘be-all-and-endall’ of the issue. But now it is getting tough by the day,” an industry representative said. 
    The desperate situation has prompted the Haldia Council of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce to convene an emergency meeting on November 30. HPL managing director and Haldia Council’s chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya said: “All industry related matters will be discussed in the meeting.” 
    Prior to this discussion, the industry needs to lend ear to what the Trinamool foot soldiers in Haldia have to say. Haldia town Trinamool Congress vice-president Pintu Bhattacharjee and Trinamool MLA Shiuli Saha went hammer and tongs at party MP Subhendu Adhikary. 
   

In the name of the Trinamool trade union, some people are extorting and amassing personal wealth. Neither the party, nor the labourers are benefited. We are the original flag-bearers of the party when the Trinamool was constantly under attack. But when we sought affiliation of our trade union, we were denied by state-level leaders. We have formed a parallel INTTUC union at each company as we can only protect the interest of workers. Our leader Subhendu Adhikary has brought some hooligans from outside to run the Trinamool labour wing at different units. These hooligans are extorting labourers, extracting ransom from industrialists and selling jobs at a premium 
—Pintu Bhattacharjee | INTTUC LEADER & HALDIA TOWN TRINAMOOL CONGRESS VICE-PRESIDENT

 “We represent the original party. We built the party’s base, brick by brick. But now we find ourselves left behind. Our leader Subhendu Adhikary has brought some hooligans from outside to run the Trinamool labour wing at different units. These hooligans are extorting labourers, extracting ransom from industrialists, selling jobs at a premium,” they said. 

Some opportunistic people, who have come to Trinamool from the CPM, are trying to defame the party and its leader Subhendu Adhikary. We have affiliation. Others who are trying to pass off as the real INTTUC have not been affiliated by the party. What they are doing is unconstitutional. The allegation of extortion against us is baseless 
—Milan Mondal | IINTTUC LEADER

Milan Mondal of the Subhendu faction denied the charge. “Some opportunists from the CPM, who are claiming themselves to be Trinamool workers, have been trying to fish in the murky water. They are trying to defame the party.” However, Mondal admitted that there was some “overdoing”, when specifically asked about the Mitsubishi transporter extortion case. 
When asked about the involvement of dubious characters like Selim, Arman Bhola, Mona Jana and Subal Middadas — all of whom have criminal antecedents — in the trade unions, Mondal saw nothing wrong in it. He described them as “social activists”. “We could not have countered the Citu without them. If you are in danger, they will be the first to come to your rescue. They are the true Trinamool workers. In the Left regime, police booked almost all the leaders worth their salt under heinous sections. So don’t be taken by the police records.” 
    A few days ago, Gokul Tung, a tough of the Shiuli faction, allegedly threatened independent workers agitating at KS Oil gates under the banner of Jana Jagaran Mancha. Tung warned them of a severe beating if they do not come under their fold. 
    If there was any doubt about the Trinamool infighting, hear it in the rivals’ own words. 
    HDA chairman and Tamluk MP Subhendu Adhikary said,” There is no room for confusion. The industry should recognise only affiliated trade unions. Why should it deal with unrecognised ones? There is no truth in the rumours going around. On the contrary, Haldia is experiencing a new dawn with greater productivity, excellent work-atmosphere where both industry and workers can work at peace.” 
    Haldia MLA Shiuli Saha strongly differs. “I am answerable to my people and my voters. I have to raise my voice if my people do not get jobs. If the party MP has his way, why can’t I? I have already written a letter on this to the state leadership,” Saha said. 


BAD FOR BUSINESS
 Haldia is witnessing a new dawn with greater productivity and zero-man day loss. You will hardly find the extortion and blackmailing that existed at the time of Laxman Seth. Citu has been systematically spreading rumours that have no basis 
Subhendu Adhikary | TAMLUK MP & HALDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN 


There is neither democracy, nor impartial administration. We are not allowed to function. We are being attacked. Labourers are losing jobs if they hold red flags. The industry is suffering as it has to satisfy many demands from various factions 
Sudarshan Manna | CITU DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEMBER & CPM’S HALDIA ZONAL SECRETARY 


We are confused. There are two sets of union leaders from the same party, each claiming to be the genuine one. They place separate charters of demand. If we agree to one, the other comes up with a steeper demand. In the Left Front regime, Citu was at least the be-all-and-end-all 
A top industrialist, AFRAID TO BE NAMED 


The demands of the trade unions remind me of the man who killed the goose that gave golden eggs 
Partha S Bhattacharyya | MD, HALDIA PETROCHEMICALS & CHAIRMAN OF HALDIA FORUM OF BENGAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 


Those who have built the Trinamool in Haldia are being ignored. Some dubious outsiders are getting prominence. The state leadership is also giving trade union affiliation to some particular people, not those who fought for the party despite having been beaten up by the CPM workers 
Siuli Saha | HALDIA TRINAMOOL MLA

Breakdown of Law and order in West Bengal, India

Violence rocks West Midnapore

Nov 10, 2011, 04.48AM IST


MIDNAPORE:West Midnapore is reeling under fresh political violence in the run-up to the 2013 panchayat polls with no political party ready to concede any ground. The Congress has already announced it will go alone in the district civic polls. Four incidents of political clashes have been reported in the district in 24 hours and in two cases, Congress claimed that Trinamool men had attacked them.

In Pingla's Bajageria village, Pingla block Congress president Prasanta Chakraborty was severely assaulted, allegedly by Trinamool supporters. Chakraborty was first admitted in Pingla hospital, but as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to Midnapore Medical College Hospital. District Congress president Swapan Dubey alleged that across the district, Congress workers were being assaulted by Trinamool members.

"We will meet the chief minister and apprise her of the matter," he said. In Nayagram, Congress district general secretary Anil Sikaria led a rally to protest the assault of Youth Congress supporters who'd gone to Nayagram to attend a Youth Congress training meet on Sunday. Sikaria later met Jhargram SP Gaurav Sharma and urged police to arrest the Trinamool supporters who'd perpetrated the attacks. The other attacks took place in Kharagpur (rural) and Narayangarh where CPM withstood the Trinamool surge in the assembly polls.

Trinamool blamed CPM for both the attacks. Police complaints were lodged in both the cases.

Law and order worsen in West Bengal due to partisan politics by Mamata Govt.

Son attacked, Dalu blames Trinamool

Subhro Maitra, TNN | Nov 13, 2011, 03.45AM IST

MALDA: Malda South MP Abu Hasem Khan Chowdhury's son, MLA Isha Khan Chowdhury, was attacked and bombs were hurled at his car on Saturday. Isha escaped unscathed, but his father blamed Trinamool Congress goons for the attack.

The incident took place at Baishnabnagar, when Isha was on his way to the condolence meeting organized for

Class X student of Biswajit Mandal, who was hacked to death last week. After crossing Mojampur bus stand, a bomb was hurled which exploded metres away from Isha's car. The MLA alleged that he had heard gunshots as well. The driver showed presence of mind and drove away at full speed.

Isha later contacted the local BDO and soon, a police team was sent for his protection. However, Isha alleged after his car crossed a bridge at Sahabajpur, a group of 10 to 12 armed goons emerged from a field and approached his car once again. But this time, his bodyguard and the policemen chased the criminals away.

Isha did not accuse any political party in his complaint, alleging the general law and order situation of the area was very poor.

"Police have been taking some action of late, but they have to be more alert. If the life of an MLA is at stake, it is understandable how common people live," said Isha. His father, however, directly blamed Trinamool Congress. "The CPM goons of this locality have joined Trinamool and they were the ones behind the attack. I'll take it up with the chief minister," he fumed.

Trinamool MLA and minister Sabitri Mitra, however, said, rubbished the allegation.

"No CPM worker joined our party in that area." she said.

Additional SP Shyam Singh said: "We responded promptly after getting a complaint from the MLA." His security was beefed up. We are looking for the goons now."

Trinamul leaders terrorising people in the name of Maoists

Subhendu gives ultimatum to Maoists

Sujoy Khanra TNN 13.11.11

Trinamool MP Subhendu Adhikari at the rally at Kurasole on Saturday

Jhargram: Trinamool Congress revised its rally route in the wake of threats from Maoists, keeping party MP Subhendu Adhikari away from the forest roads at Jhargram on Saturday. Earlier during his meeting at Belpahari, Adhikari had announced to organize a rally from Aguiboni to Birihandi in the outskirts of Jhargram. A major portion of the scheduled route goes through the forest which earned notoriety for Maoist domination. In the past couple of days, four IEDs were recovered from the forest, which raised a major security threat. Police had reasons to believe that Maoists, who had asked people to boycott the Trinamool rally, may target Adhikari’s rally and on Saturday his route was cut short to avoid the forest. 
    Adhikari started his rally from Ektal village football ground at 1pm and walked around three kms to reach Kurasole where the meeting was held. He sounded a warning to Maoist leaders Akash and Bikash: “Either lay down arms or leave Bengal. If you continue the politics of violence, then like CPM leaders you all will be put behind bars.” 
    “Maoists are trying to terrorize people at gunpoint. To foil my meeting, they are planting land mines. But all these can’t resist people from joining our effort to restore peace,” said the Trinamool leader. Jhargram MLA and minister Sukumar Hansda, and two other party MLAs Churamoni Mahato and Srikanta Mahato were also present at the rally. 
    But their presence failed to convince villagers who did not dare to join the rally by defying the Maoist diktat. Nearly 700 additional security force led by Jhargram SP Gaurav Sharma escorted the leaders. Subhendu said that joint forces were no longer playing a partisan role.“People like Ashok Jiban (convener of Maoist-influenced mass organization) are spreading cooked-up stories of torture by joint forces,” said Subhendu. 
    Ashok Jiban, convener of Santras O Durnity Birodhi Mancha in Jangalmahal, alleged that Subhendu’s peace rally was nothing but an effort to dominate villages through Trinamool-led armed vigilant group. “Trinamool leaders mainly Nisith Mahato is threatening people and forcing them to join the rally,” alleged Ashok. 
    Meanwhile, West Midnapore police said that six single barrel guns and nearly 90 kg of explosives were recovered from two Maoist hideouts of Salboni after interrogating Maoist squad members, arrested on Friday. They were produced before the court on Saturday and remanded to police custody for ten days, said Midnapore SP Praveen Kumar Tripathi.

Also Read : 

Rise of armed vigilant group in West Bengal

Cheating and Extortion are Hallmarks of Bengal's ruling party

Slur on Trinamul leader

OUR CORRESPONDENT11.11.11

Durgapur, Nov. 10: A Trinamul leader in Burdwan and his son have been accused of cheating several traders of about Rs 3 crore. About 60 traders in Kanska barged into Trinamul leader Alok Chatterjee’s medicine shop today and roughed him up when they found that his son Smaranjit had disappeared. An FIR has been lodged but there have been no arrests. The duo had collected about Rs 3 crore from traders promising an annual returns of 15 per cent, a police officer said. “Those who invested money with them got their interest till April. But the payments stopped from May.” “Whenever we went to the medicine shop to enquire about the money, Smaranjit threatened us,” said Satya Prasad Keshari, a restaurant owner. Chatterjee, however, said he knew nothing about the investments and his son’s whereabouts. “They have deposited the money with my son. He left home today and I don’t know where he has gone,” he said. State law minister Malay Ghatak has been informed about the matter, a trader said

Fascist regime of West Bengal, India

For Kolkata thana rioting, police blame themselves

Madhuparna DasTags : Trinamool workers, CM Mamata Banerjee,Kolkata PolicePosted: Wed Nov 09 2011, 02:18 hrsKolkata:

Two days after a mob of 300 Trinamool workers and supporters stormed a police station in the heart of Kolkata, assaulted policemen and vandalised government and private vehicles, the police have filed a preliminary report of the rioting — and indicted their own men.

The mob, comprising members of two clubs in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s south Kolkata neighbourhood, fought street battles with policemen from Bhowanipore police station who had asked them not to burst crackers outside cancer hospital and a children’s hospital late in the night, and to not block traffic on a major thoroughfare as they took out a boisterous Jagaddhatri Puja immersion procession.

Banerjee landed up personally at the police station on Sunday night, shouted at top Kolkata Police officers, and got two arrested vandals released. The puja in question is organised by an alleged building construction material supplier called Jagannath Sau, who is a close associate of the chief minister’s brother, Baban Banerjee.

Till late on Tuesday, Kolkata Police had not registered a case against the people who attacked the police station. But a preliminary inquiry report prepared by the assistant commissioner of the South division of Kolkata Police is learnt to have indicted officers of the Bhowanipore station for the violence and their failure to control the mob, and criticised them for being rash with those leading the procession.

An officer of the police station has also been booked for misbehaving with the mob, sources said. Top officials declined to speak on the matter.

Significantly, the inquiry report has been prepared without any police officer having visited the area where the Sebak Sangha and the Bhowanipore Players Association clubs are located. Police have not spoken to anyone who was part of the procession and subsequent rioting.

Sebak Sangha is the chief minister’s para club, located at a stone’s throw from her home.

Bursting crackers, playing loud music late in the evening, and blocking main city roads are all illegal under the Police Act and the West Bengal Pollution Control Act.

Police have not booked anyone for violating these laws, or for the rioting and damage to government and private property.

A senior official of the state pollution control board said, “Bursting crackers louder than 90 decibels is prohibited. Bursting crackers or playing loud music in front of a hospital is a violation of the law.

But the PCB cannot start a case against offenders; the police have to do it.”

The rioters damaged windscreens of at least five private vehicles. They vandalised a state transport bus and four motorcycles parked outside the police station, and tried to set them on fire, witnesses said.

The mob assaulted several police personnel, and at least three of them sustained significant injuries. Bhowanipore police station was attacked.

West Bengal CM indulgence in her party men's rowdyism

Inquiry blames police, not rowdies

Bhowanipore Officers Failed To Assess Situation And Became Too Proactive, Says Report

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 09.11.2011

One of the vehicles damaged by the Mamata's men in front of Bhowanipore police station on Sunday

Kolkata: It is a rare occasion to see a chief minister walking into a police station late in the evening to control an unruly mob. And it is unusual for a CM who believes in not interfering in police’s work. 
    It’s another matter that the clubs which triggered the brawl claim Mamata Banerjee’s own brothers to be their patrons. And police apparently bent backwards to appease their political masters. An internal police inquiry report on Tuesday claimed “police officers” were responsible for the Sunday rampage — which left a dozen of their own men, including the Bhowanipore OC, injured. 
    The report squarely blamed the Bhowanipore OC and a sub-inspector for their “pro-activeness” in attempting to stop the blaring music and bursting of banned firecracker. The report also claimed that the subinspector was not only “headstrong” but his “indecent behaviour” provoked the men in the procession to attack cops, ransack vehicles and stage a roadblock. 
    The report, prepared by ACP (south) Tapas Bose, was submitted to DCP (south) D P Singh. It, however, is contrary to eyewitness accounts of the events as reported in TOI earlier. The report, it appears, is a clear attempt to find scapegoats. 
    It draws instances on the “laid down briefing” to police to handle errant people in a procession to indicate that both the OC and the SI had faltered on job. The report even saysthat as per the laid down brief, the SI had erred in trying to “directly stop the mikes”. These incidentally happened right in front of a hospital —the Chittaranjan Cancer Research Institute. 
    The report says, in such cases police officers have been clearly instructed not to forcibly stop the mikes but to speak to the leader of the processions and reason with them. The SI had clearly defied that trying to stop the loudspeakers himself and even misbehaving with the crowd. It says for such a big procession, the police arrangement was “woefully inadequate” and should have been personally supervised by the OC himself or in his absence at least the additional OC. An SI along with a small force was inadequate to handle such a large procession. The OC, the report said, had completely failed to assess the situation. 
    The report says had things being done “according to the briefing”, a situation which required lathicharge could have been avoided. 
    Though senior officers refused to comment on either the report or its contents, a clear indication emerged that the two officers indicted in the report could face departmental proceedings. However, Bhowanipore now falls in the ambit of the Kolkata South Lok Sabha constituency where by-elections are scheduled on November 30. The Election Commission has already issued a notification on November 5 and any further actioning (against any officer) would require sanction of the EC. An officer said the Kolkata Police top brass is unlikely to do so and would wait till the elections are over to shunt out the officer duo.

Mamata the ultimate hysteric!

click here to play video

As the Centre was trying to placate an upset Mamata Banerjee who threatened to quit the government over the recent petrol price hike, the West Bengal Chief Minister's famed temper was at display elsewhere. At the receiving end was the Kolkata Police Commissioner who Ms Banerjee reportedly shouted at for arresting two members of her party - the Trinamool Congress - for rioting and arson.
The incident occurred on Monday night after the Chief Minister unexpectedly stormed into a city police station and forced the release of two Trinamool workers. They had been arrested after an altercation with the police over bursting crackers outside a cancer hospital. A mob had even ransacked the police station, after the two men were allegedly detained.

But to everyone's shock, Ms Banerjee ordered the release of Tapas Saha and Sambhu Sau. No case has been registered against them.

Officially police denied having taken anyone into custody. Asked whether there was any intervention by the chief minister, Deputy 
Commissioner of Police (South) D P Singh said "The investigation is on and so far there has been no arrest. So, the question of intervention by the chief minister to release the arrested doesn't arise." 
Mr Saha works full-time at Banerjee's Kalighat party office. He is secretary of the Bhowanipore club, and has recently got a job with the Indian Railways. He was reportedly taken to hospital with injuries on his legs. 
Sambhu Sau said, "Police arrested me and Tapas, threw us in the lock-up and began beating us. We are members of Trinamool Congress. The police refused to release us even after our leaders, Dr Nirmal Majhi, Dulal Sen, and Minister for Urban Development Firhad Hakim reached the police station. They relented only after Didi arrived. Didi is God to us. Didi arranged for my treatment and sent Tapas to hospital."
Defending Ms Banerjee's actions, Trinamool MP Debabrata Bandopadhyay told NDTV that she did it to pacify the crowds. "She was acting as someone who lived in the neighbourhood. She did a very good thing, no regrets about it." Mr Bandopadhyay said.
The CPI(M) and the BJP  have slammed the chief minister for allegedly pressuring the police. "It is reprehensible that the chief minister, who holds the Home (Police) department, herself stormed into a police station to force the police to release two detained persons," CPI(M) central committee member Md Selim told reporters in Kolkata.
"The chief minister led her party workers for the release of the detained persons who are her brother's associates, from the police station by force," the CPI(M) leader alleged.
State BJP president Rahul Sinha led a party delegation to Governor M K Narayanan at the Raj Bhavan seeking his intervention in the matter. 

Real Face of Mamata Banerjee exposed

Mamata Banerjee storms police station in Kolkata, frees two party men

TNN | Nov 8, 2011, 06.05PM IST

Mamata’s party members were involved in a brawl between two local clubs- Sevak Sangha and Players Corner and the police.

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee in an unusual intervention stormed a local police station late Monday night and ensured the release of two of her party members who were allegedly arrested for rioting an hour earlier, Times Now reported.

Mamata's party members were involved in a brawl between two local clubs- Sevak Sangha and Players Corner and the police. Eyewitnesses claimed that the members of Sevak Sangha were headed to Babughat for Jagadhhatri idol immersion and they burst banned (high decibel) firecrackers right in front of the Chittaranjan Cancer Research Institute. Apart from fire crackers, a DJ was playing music at high volume. Police asked them to stop music and then insisted that they move fast as the procession was causing huge traffic snarl. People in the procession refused to follow the police orders while flaunting their political connections.

Meanwhile, another group of youth (Players Corner) gathered at the spot. While Sevak Sangha group attacked the police at Bhowanipore police station, the Players Corner asked the cops to act against them. Both clubs claimed that among their patrons were the two brothers of the chief minister. And if eyewitnesses are to be believed, the vandals were dropping the names of "high-profile contacts" while attacking policemen, ransacking vehicles and staging a roadblock.

The attack left at least a dozen cops injured, police refused to take action against the attackers. Not a single arrest was made in the incident that prompted chief minister Mamata Banerjee to rush to the spot to pacify the crowd. Worse still, four persons including two members of Mamata's party detained were released after a few hours.

The procession was managed by Jagannath Sau, a close associate of Baban Banerjee, one of Mamata's brothers. Sau was present at the spot as was Baban Banerjee. The attacks were perpetrated by a local strongman, Kumar Saha and his henchmen. Kumar is very close to Jagannath Sau. When contacted, Kumar denied this allegation. "Neither me nor any of my supporters was there... Go through the television footage and check who was present in the front row of the mob," said Kumar.

Virtual collapse of administration in West Bengal

BATTLE FOR TRADE ROUTE

City caught in Dawood and Rajan’s drug war

Caesar Mandal TNN 31.10.2011

Kolkata:It is virtually a battle of supremacy between the notorious D gang and the one led by Chhota Rajan to gain control over international narcotics trade through Bengal. Much to the surprise of the country’s high-level intelligence and enforcement agencies, both the gangs are fast spreading their tentacles across the vast stretch of northeast and Bengal to control the billion-dollar racket of smuggling high-quality narcotics to several foreign countries through the eastern states. 
    Following the seizure of at least five bulk narco consignments in Kolkata, the specialized investigating agencies have reasons to believe that the ‘big children’ of the underworld are behind the trade, as all of the consignments were carrying marks of a highly professional gang. 
    Some time back, the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) Kolkata recovered expensive white sugar from a courier agency’s office in central Kolkata. The powder was put in small packets and stuffed inside diapers. The packet was supposed to go to South Africa. NCB officials tried their best to trace the sender of the pack, but all they could gather was that the consignment was sent from north-east India. 
    Within months, a similar consignment of white sugar was seized from another courier agency and that was supposed to go to Australia. This time also, a north-eastern state was the place of origin. In the following five months, three more consignments were confiscated and in all three cases, the modus operandi was similar. Sometimes the powder was hidden inside a religious book or in some cases, inside sanitary napkins. 
    Initially, the NCB investigators had reasons to believe that the notorious northeast narcotic smuggling gang was behind the consignments. But a detailed probe proved them wrong. “Two Kocharis, Pakhi Miya and Munna Musalman, were the key men behind most of the narcotic trade in northeast. But in recent times, their link was found nowhere in the 
trade,” said an intelligence official, who hinted that the recent modus operandi does not match the earlier gang’s work style. The recent work is more sophisticated and is definitely the brainchild of a more organized gang. 
    Intelligence officers have reasons to believe that a top gangster (read Chhota Rajan) has taken over the trade and is using Siliguri and Kolkata as major transit routes. And most importantly, the gang has planted its men in the city to handle the trade. The intelligence officers who now don’t want to disclose the name of the gangster just revealed that the key person has a stronghold in Nepal and his key aides are operating the entire trade from the neighbouring country. 
    Interestingly, Rajan, the arch rival of Dawood Ibrahim, has been camping in a south-east Asian country, but he has a strong network in Nepal. In the past one year, taking the opportunity of continuous split in Rajan’s gang, D-company had also tried to gain a strong foothold in Nepal, which sparked violent gang rivalry in the Himalayan state. 
    Sources said months ago, a Bangladeshi don who was arrested in Kolkata and later crossed into Nepal after being chased by Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force, has also joined hands with Rajan, after spending a few months in Nepal jail following massive crackdown on the fake currency racket. 
    Rajan, once the main weapon of Indian agencies to combat D-company, has now been abandoned. One of Rajan’s close aides, who was sent to Karachi in 2001 to assassinate Dawood, is now believed to be working for the Indian agencies. The youth has a family business in Kolkata and a few months ago he was in the city. 
    NCB officials admitted that during each seizure of white sugar, they got a specific tip-off from an unknown caller, which only suggests that someone close to the gang was behind the successful interception. 
    Gathering these pieces of information, intelligence officers have hinted that the gangs have already spread their tentacles in the city and at any point of time, the gangs may pave way for terror outfits.

Mamata's Terror rule in Bengal with Mafia help

Trinamool man shot in party office

Mamata Orders CID Inquiry, Ministers Rush To The Scene Real Estate Rivalry May Be Behind Brazen Daylight Murder

Sanjib Chakraborty | TNN 31.10.2011

A police officer inspects the Trinamool office on Jessore Road where party leader Manoj Sahani (inset) was shot dead on Sunday morning. (Right) The family in mourning

Kolkata: A Trinamool Congress youth leader was gunned down in a party office in Dum Dum, north Kolkata, just before noon on Sunday. Police suspect it was a contract hit, spurred by vicious rivalry in the real estate business. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered a CID probe into the murder, said municipal affairs and urban development minister Firhad Hakim. 
    Thirty-five-year-old Manoj Sahani was watching a TV soap at the Jessore Road New Quarters party office when a gunman stormed in, walked right up to him and shot him in the chest. People in the busy locality stood stunned as the killer walked out into a waiting taxi. 
    It’s as if the brazen nature of the murder was intended to send a message, say local residents. The killing triggered hectic political activity. Two ministers — Hakim and Madan Mitra (sports) — rushed to Sahani’s home along with local MLA Sujit Basu.They promised a quick inquiry into the murder and “demanded” that police immediately arrest the killers. Senior police officers, including DIG(PR) Siddhi Nath Gupta and North 24-Parganas SP Champak Bhattacharya personally investigated the scene of the crime. However, till Sunday night, there were no leads and no one had been detained. 
    Manoj, a resident of Durganagar in Dum Dum, had criminal antecedents and was involved in supplying building materials, say police. It is a big bucks business, where crime syndicates and a section of politicians have an interest. The CPM and Trinamool are locked in a brutal battle to gain control of this multi-crore trade, say sources. On September 10, CPM leader Mosharaf Mollah was gunned down in broad daylight on Rajarhat main arterial road by gunmen on a bike. Like Trinamool’s Manoj, Mollah was also a building materials supplier in Rajarhat, the city’s northern outskirts that is going through an unprecedented realty boom. 
    Trinamool leaders on Sunday alleged that CPM-backed miscreants plotted Manoj’s murder because he ran a realty business “in an area dominated by a CPMled syndicate”. 
    “After the Trinamool Congress came to power in the state, the CPM can no longer lead the syndicates. CPM-backed miscreants have unleashed a reign of terror in the locality by killing an active Trinamool worker like Manoj. They want to gain control of the real estate businessin the area. We have asked senior police officers to conduct a proper inquiry into his murder,” said Hakim. 
    CPM state committee member Amitava Nandy rubbished the allegation. “It is completely baseless. None of our men are connected to the crime. The Trinamool is playing a political game with such unsubstantiated allegations,” Nandy said. 
    After preliminary investigation, police suspect that a contract killer carried out the murder. Some eyewitnesses are being questioned to get a description of the attacker. “The killer fired at him at point-blank range. Manoj was struck in the left side of his chest. The motive behind the murder has not been ascertained yet. We are investigating all the possible angles,” a police officer said. 
    According to police, the killer struck a little after 11.30am, possibly after ascertaining that the Trinamool leader was alone. They could have studied his movements over the past few days. Eyewitnesses say a yellow taxi stopped in front of the party office with the engine running. There were two passengers in the rear seat. One of them got out and walked quickly into the one-room office, pistol drawn. Manoj had no time to react. The killer stood barely two feet from him and fired. He turned around and walked back to the taxi as Manoj slumped to the ground. 
    Locals took Manoj to Dum Dum hospital where he was declared brought dead. 
    “Some locals partially remembered the taxi’s registration number as ‘5154’. We are looking for the vehicle and its owner. Raids are being conducted at several areas to nab the criminals. Some local miscreants who were involved in the building materials supplying business are also being interrogated. Nearby police stations, including Baranagar and Barrackpore, have been alerted,” a police officer said. 
    Police said that Manoj had a criminal past. He was accused in a murder in the airport area last year. “Manoj was arrested in this connection and released on bail after he surrendered before the court. We are investigating whether gang rivalry could be a motive behind the murder,” the officer added.