Total anarchy in West Bengal - collapse of law&order

Gang kills youth day after protest

By Sanjib Chakraborty, TNN | Feb 6, 2013, 04.06 AM IST

KOLKATA: An armed gang barged into a house in Dum Dum on Tuesday morning, shot a youth twice while he was asleep, hurled bombs and fled. The 32-year-old victim, Gour Das, was rushed to RG Kar Hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

Locals said Gour was murdered for protesting against the blank shots the gang had fired on Monday evening to terrorize the neighbourhood and mark its area of influence.

The incident comes barely 10 days after the police recovered the bodies of two youths - Abhijit Saha, a promoter's son, and his brother-in-law Kaishik Roy - from a pond near Dum Dum railway yard. Tuesday's murder took place at Dum Dum's Harihar Nagar near Shyamnagar, 2.5 km from the spot of twin murders.

Around 250 families reside in Harihar Nagar slum off Jessore Road. Gour lived as a tenant in a two-storied building with wife Soma and two-year-old son. He was also associated with building materials supply business and was believed to have links with a real-estate syndicate that operates in Dum Dum-Nagerbazar area.

According to Soma, five armed miscreants barged in when she opened the door around 7.30 am. "Gour was asleep. They shot him in the head and the chest before leaving as abruptly as they had entered," she recounted.

Locals alleged that some anti-socials have been trying to gain control over the slum for several months. On Monday night, the gang, led by Jagannath alias Jaga, began terrorizing residents. When Gour and some of his associates confronted the gang, they retreated.

"Though we called the police, it took them an eternity to arrive from the Dum Dum police station barely 3 km away. By the time they arrived, the criminals had fled. There was no move to nab the culprits. Neither were policemen posted at the site to prevent further retaliation," alleged a local woman.

Gour was still alive when locals rushed him to RG Kar Hospital but died later. Soma lodged an FIR with Dum Dum PS against Jaga and other persons.

Locals on Tuesday gheraoed Prabir Chatterjee, the inspector in charge of Dum Dum police station, alleging inaction. They blocked Jessore Road at Shyamnagar More for about an hour. Later, a large police contingent, including RAF and combat force, rushed in to defuse the situation. The blockade was withdrawn around 10.30 am after senior officers assured that the culprits would be nabbed.

Later in the day, police arrested Jaga's brother Sourav Das. "Another person had been arrested on Monday night in connection with firing and bombing in Harihar Nagar. He is also being interrogated in connection with the murder. Raids are on to nab the other culprits. We are also investigating whether the victim had a business rivalry with somebody," said Biswajit Ghosh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Barrackpore.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leaders claimed that Gour was their party supporter. "The CPM-backed goons who are desperately trying to regain control over the area murdered him," said North 24-Parganas Trinamool Congress secretary Kamal Das said. CPM district secretariat member Amitava Nandy, however, rubbished the allegation and said it was the fallout of Trinamool's internal feud.

সতেরো দিনে ৮ খুন বারাকপুরে
Update: February 6, 2013 22:07 IST

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সতেরো দিনে আটটি খুন। এই পরিসংখ্যান কলকাতা লাগোয়া বারাকপুর কমিশনারেট এলাকায়। স্বাভাবিক ভাবেই প্রশ্নের মুখে আইনশৃঙ্খলা। নিরাপত্তা নিয়ে শঙ্কিত বাসিন্দারা। কমিশনারেট গড়ে কী লাভ হল, উঠছে সে প্রশ্ন। তালিকায় শীর্ষে দমদম থানা। সেই থানার আইসির অপসারণের দাবিও জোরদার হচ্ছে বাসিন্দাদের গলায়।

দমদম পার্কের শ্যামনগরে ৩২ বছরের যুবক গোরা দাস ওরফে পুপার খুনের ঘটনায় ত্রাসে কাঁপছে গোটা এলাকা। গোরার স্ত্রী এবং ভাইয়ের অভিযোগ, আততায়ীরা স্থানীয় বাসিন্দা। তাদের নাম পুলিসকে দেওয়া হয়েছে। কিন্তু পুলিস নীরব দর্শক। ঘটনার ২৪ ঘণ্টার মধ্যে অভিযুক্তদের গ্রেফতারের আশ্বাস দিয়েছিলেন বারাকপুর পুলিস কমিশনারেটের এসিপি বিশ্বজিত ঘোষ। অথচ বাস্তবে শ্যামনগরে গোটা পাঁচেক পুলিসর্মীর ঢিলেঢালা টহলদারি ছাড়া পুলিসের তেমন তত্পরতা চোখে পড়েনি। আতঙ্কে ঘুম ছুটেছে বাসিন্দাদের। বাসিন্দাদের তোপের মুখে দমদম থানার আইসি প্রবীর চ্যাটার্জি। তার অপসারণেরও দাবি উঠছে।


জানুয়ারির ১৯ তারিখ থেকে ফেব্রুয়ারির ৫ তারিখের মধ্যে কমিশনারেট এলাকায় খুনের ঘটনাই আটটি। এরমধ্যে শুধুমাত্র দমদম থানা এলাকাতেই ঘটেছে চারটি খুনের ঘটনা।

১) ১৯ জানুয়ারি উত্তর চব্বিশ পরগনার হালিশহরে বিয়ের আসরে খুন করা হয় পাত্র শৌভিক দেকে। গুলি চালনায় অভিযুক্ত রাজীব বসু নামে এক যুবককে ধরে ফেলেন স্থানীয় বাসিন্দারা। ব্যাপক মারধর করা হয় তাকে।

২) ২০শে জানুয়ারি হাসপাতালে মৃত্যু হয় হালিশহরকান্ডের একমাত্র অভিযুক্ত রাজীব বসুর।

৩) ২২শে জানুয়ারি হালিশগরে গুলি করে বোমা মেরে প্রকাশ্যে খুন করা হয় ৩২ বছরের এক যুবককে। তার নাম রামজি কাহার।

৪) ২২শে জানুয়ারি টিটাগড়ের জে সি রোডে খেলার সময় ২ শিশুর বচসার জেরে রাহুল গিরি
নামে এক শিশুকে গুলি করে খুন করে তারই প্রতিবেশি মহম্মদ আরমান।

৫) দমদম স্টেশন লাগোয়া পুকুর থেকে ২৬শে জানুয়ারি উদ্ধার হয় অভিজিত ও কৌশিক নামের ২ যুবকের বিবস্ত্র দেহ। তাদের অন্যত্র খুন করে জলাশয়ে ফেলে যায় আততায়ীরা।

৬) দমদমের হরিহর কলোনিতে চৌঠা ফেব্রুয়ারি ব্যাপক বোমাবাজি ও গুলিবর্ষণ করে সমাজবিরোধীরা। শীলা দাস নামে এক প্রৌঢ়া গুরুতর আহত হন। পাঁচ তারিখ তার মৃত্যু হয়।

৭) শীলা দাসের মৃত্যুতে যারা জড়িত তারা গোরা দাসের ঘনিষ্ঠ বলে পুলিসের দাবি। সেই মৃত্যুর শোধ তুলতেই পাঁচ তারিখ বাড়িতে ঢুকে গোরা দাস কে খুন করা হয় বলে পুলিস সূত্রে খবর।

১৭ দিনে আটটি খুন। কমিশনারেটের ওপর আস্থা হারাচ্ছেন নাগরিকরা। আরও একটা হত্যাকান্ডের জন্য ত্রাসের প্রহর গুনছে বারাকপুর।
 (source: 24 ghanta news )

Goons harass girls, beat up protester

By Sanjib Chakraborty, TNN | Feb 6, 2013, 03.28 AM IST

BARASAT: A middle-aged man, who volunteered help to two girls being harassed near Madhyamgram railway station, was thrashed by two drunken youths on Monday. While police arrested one of the accused on Tuesday, the other has gone into hiding.

The victims - a Class-X girl and a first-year college student - had participated in a cultural event and were on their way home when they were harassed. Witnesses said that soon as the van rickshaw, in which the girls were travelling, stopped in front of the station, two inebriated youths drew up to the girls and made lewd comments.

A passerby on a cycle, whose wife was also on the van, noticed the misbehaving youths and at once rushed to the girls' rescue and admonished the goons. Instead of backing off, they continued with their drunken rambling.

This angered the man and he again yelled at them following which the latter charged at him, thrashed him and fled the spot, said locals.

The man was immediately taken to Madhyamgram Gramin Hospital and later discharged after treatment. He along with the girls' parents then went to Madhyamgram outpost and lodged a complaint against the assailants. While Pranab Paul was arrested from his residence at Subhaspally in Madhyamgram, police are on the look out for the other accused.

Salute to the Protester of Rape

Source: Ei Samay Newspaper31.12.2012

Mamata was against using force to combat Maoists when in opposition

Mamata to Centre: Pull out Jangalmahal forces

Jayanta Gupta & Sujoy Khara, TNN Oct 7, 2010, 04.59am IST

BHADUTALA/MIDNAPORE: For long a vociferous advocate of withdrawal of central forces from Maoist bastion Jangalmahal, Mamata Banerjee doesn't want to wait anymore. She wants the UPA government to act on her demand immediately, even if it doesn't go down well with the Delhi ally.

"From Thursday, my party will hit West Midnapore streets with this demand. If need be, Trinamool MPs will also organize protests in Delhi," the Trinamool chief said on Wednesday during a party gathering in Midnapore town, just days after chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee addressed what was seen as a 'comeback' meeting at the same spot. Mamata, though, made it clear the Trinamool would not "betray" the UPA, as the CPM had. But there will be no compromise where respect is concerned, she added.

The Trinamool chief ended her whirlwind tour of the West Midnapore district on Wednesday by throwing a challenge to the CPM, which she referred to as a party of 'supari killers'. "Give me a date and time. I shall be prepared. You tried to finish me off earlier as well but did not succeed. I shall not fight you with guns. The people are ready to give you your just rewards. It is time that the CPM accepts its days are numbered. The people of the state have decided that they want change," Mamata told a huge gathering at the Midnapore College ground.

Lashing out at chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for his recent remarks against the Trinamool Congress — at his Midnapore meeting, the chief minister accused the party of "protecting" Maoists — Mamata said criminal charges should be filed against him.

"What would have happened had the chief ministers of Bihar, Orissa or Jharkhand made such remarks? How can a chief minister ask 'who will save Mamata?' After all, he is referring to the railway minister of the country. It is not for the CPM to decide when I should come to Midnapore. I shall come and go as I choose."

hadutala/Midnapore: Mamata Banerjee told a gathering in Midnapore town on Wednesday criminal charges should be filed against the chief minister for remarks against her and the Trinamool Congress. "I speak the language of the people. The Trinamool's victory run shall start from Midnapore. I again give a call for central forces to be withdrawn," Mamata said.

She sounded extremely displeased with West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma, who she referred to as a top CPM agent. "He (Manoj Verma) tortures people by slashing them with razor blades and then rubs lime juice and salt into the wounds. Does he think he can escape with the riches he has acquired? I will drag him back and make him apologise to the people. The Trinamool will win the Assembly polls comfortably in places like Lalgarh, Goaltore and Salboni. The CPM is confident of a win in Keshpur. They don't realize that the people of Keshpur will show them the door. What has the government done in the last 34 years. People asked for food. They got bullets instead. Peace can't be achieved without development. What happened to the state government's much touted Salboni project? I have plans for Jangalmahal and will set up a number of industrial units there. I shall also link Lalgarh by rail as soon as peace returns," the Trinamool supremo said.

However, the Trinamool chief chose to lie low on the Maoist question. She only said that the railways can't lay railway lines unless peace returns in Lalgarh.

The first two programmes during the day at Kharagpur and Bhadutala were railway functions. Among those present was CPI MP Probodh Panda. With Mamata going on about new projects, he had little choice but to offer full support. The CPM nearly succeeded in making an issue of Mamata's decision to name the halt station at Bhadutola as Jangalmahal. At the last moment, the railway minister decided to convert the name to Jangalmahal (Bhadutala) Halt.

"We set up the halt station within two months of the demand. Before long, it will be converted into a full-fledged station. The Kharagpur-Purulia Intercity Express will be named Olchiki Express to honour Santhals. I believe this much needs to be done for people who have been neglected for years. Trinamool will win in Lalgarh. I would ask those from the minority community to stand by the Adivasis. CPM should remember that the British didn't succeed in of Midnapore. Just as the CPM showed their backs in Singur and Nandigram, they will slip out of Lalgarh soon," Mamata said.

Probe agencies, joint forces taste success in Bengal in 2010

Posted: Tue Jan 04 2011, 09:52 hrs

With several top Maoist leaders in their net and many others killed, the investigating agencies and the joint forces in West Bengal wrapped up the year 2010 on a note of success.
The arrest of five top Maoist leaders including state committee secretary Kanchan alias Sudip Chongdar and three state committee members by Kolkata Special Task Force from various parts of Kolkata on December 4 was a major blow to the ultras.
According to the STF, Kanchan was an important policy maker and considered the brain behind the attack on the Sildah EFR camp in West Midnapore district where 24 EFR personnel and two others were killed by Maoists.
Additional Commissioner of Police and STF chief Rajiv Kumar termed their arrest as a major success for police and the investigating agencies.
The state CID also achieved major success with the arrest of Venkateshwar Reddy alias Telegu Dipak from the southern fringes of Kolkata last year.
Dipak, considered one of the top leaders in the Maoist hierarchy and reported to be 'in-charge of West Bengal affairs', besides being a close aide of Maoist supremo Kishenji alias Koteshwar Rao, was arrested by the CID in March.
CBI, investigating the Jnaneswari train disaster of May 28 which claimed 159 lives in West Midnapore district, could arrest Bapi Mahato, the main accused from near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand with the assistance of Jharkhand Police in June.
A prime suspect Umakanta Mahato was also killed in an encounter with the joint forces in August.
The joint forces eliminated Sidhu Soren, the supreme commander of Sidhu Kanu Gana Militia, the armed wing of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities and five aides in Goaltore area in West Midnapore.
Though top leaders like Kishenji, Akash and Sasadhar Mahato were yet to be caught, police claimed that there were occasions when they escaped narrowly.
PCPA secretary Manoj Mahato was arrested by the joint forces from his ancestral home in Birkanr village, near Lalgarh in 2010.
According to official figures over 60 Maoists were killed and over 400 were either arrested or surrendered.
The Maoists killed 110 persons including seven security personnel during the year.

When children die Mamata defending and denied her department's negligence

5 More Infants Die In Bengal's Burdwan Hospital, Toll 35

Anupam Mishra [ Updated 31 Oct 2011, 11:02:03 ]

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Kolkata/Burdwan, Oct 31: Even as West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday brusquely refused to take questions on spiralling number of deaths of newborn infants in government hospitals, five more newborn infants died in Burdwan medical College Hospital, taking the death toll in hospitals to 35. 

Five infants died in Burdwan Hospital during the last 24 hours, and the toll of 35 infants refers to the deaths that took place in the last five days in Kolkata and Burdwan.

The state government claims it is providing satisfactory service to the parents of these infants, but facts speak otherwise.

In Burdwan hospital alone, 17 newborn infants have died so far in the last five days. Three infants died in the pediatric department, while two others died in the nursery during the last 24 hours.

Principal of Burdwan Medical College Sarit Chaudhury says, deaths of newborn infants  are mostly because the infants are underweight, which is common.

In Kolkata's B C Roy Children's Hospital, 18 infants have died so far in the last five days.  There was no death, however, on Saturday night.

A Human Rights team of officials visited the hospital on Sunday and said overcrowding in children's hospitals seemed to be the  main reason behind the deaths.

The state government has been saying that  jaundice, encephalitis, septicemia and low weight are the reasons for the deaths of infants.Meanwhile the parents of newborn infants in government hospitals of West Bengal are in panic.

On her part, a stern-faced Mamata Banerjee on Sunday addressing the media brusquely said: 'I am concentrating only on industry here. Do you have any question on industry?' There was none.

Woman thrown out of Rail - Mamata, Railway Minister, indifferent

Will didi spare a thought for the living dead?

Raja Bose
27 April 2011, 04:02 PM IST

A michhil (public rally) bringing life to a standstill in Kolkata is nothing to write home about, a part of parcel of life in the city. But, this one was different. One such rally in January this year stood out for its absurdity (or novelty) – depending which side of the “trina” (grass) you wish to view – as Union railway minister, Trinamool Congress leader and CM-aspirant Mamata Banerjee had a sea of supporters carry with them bodies of three of party members killed in a political clash in Midnapore district of West Bengal. The show continued for hours as a shocked and frozen city watched the gruesome spectacle.

What is it in the dead?

About a decade-and-a-half ago, Mamata Banerjee had held a huge rally near Writers’ Buildings in the heart of the city, where theatrics ruled as much as it did during the January march. She had brought on stage a young widow, barely out of mourning after her husband, a mill worker, was killed in a village. The hapless lady collapsed while mumbling a few words in front of the sea of people and blaring loudspeakers.

Banerjee then turned towards a huge bell installed on the podium and pulled a string as gongs played in the background, calling it the death knell of the Left Front government in West Bengal.

But, what about the living dead? As Arunima Sinha, the volleyball player who was allegedly thrown off a running train in Uttar Pradesh by chain snatchers, lies in a bad shape in AIIMS, didi has not had the time to spare for this braveheart. She did not react even when the police heaped counter charges on her, alleging that she is lying.

Though the Government Railway Police (GRP) is technically under the state police and not the Railways, Arunima’s allegations are a telling comment on the Indian Railways and how they are run. It certainly merited an investigation by the Railways itself.

And, at least, a visit by the railway minister. Or, is it that “ma, mati, manush” exist only in West Bengal? Perhaps, that is the truth with Banerjee, like Arjuna, has set her target and probably made herself totally oblivious to any other issue, even if it meant letting an institution like the Railways go to the dogs.

It is sad that Banerjee has reduced the railway ministry to a tool to help her election campaign and ultimately aid her personal goal of sitting on the chief minister’s chair. Budget after Budget, the nation has looked helplessly as she showered goodies on her home state. While trains ran late, passengers were served stale food, accidents took place and trains became increasingly unsafe, didi rode – without a whiff of remorse – on 2011 Up, using all her for that moment of glory she has been dreaming of.

Meanwhile, more Arunimas can get thrown off trains.

Bengal rulers mafia helpers

Trinamul activist shot in party office

A STAFF REPORTER

Manoj Sahani A Trinamul Congress activist whom some police officers described as a murder suspect was shot dead in front of at least four people in an office of the party in Dum Dum on Sunday morning. Senior Trinamul leaders claimed that Manoj Sahani, 36, a supplier of building materials, was a “victim of political conspiracy”. Manoj, a resident of Ramakrishna Pally in Nimta, was watching TV with four local youths in the party office near the Jessop factory, off Jessore Road, when the assailants struck. “Two youths in their early 20s came to the office in a taxi around 11.10am. They called Manojda by his name and as soon as he got up from his chair, they shot him point-blank,” said a witness who did not want to be named. A couple of minutes later the duo walked out of the office, got into the taxi in which they had come and fled in the direction Nagerbazar. Manoj was taken to a municipal hospital at Dum Dum where he was declared dead on arrival. The Trinamul activist had shifted to his newly-built home in Nimta, on the northern city fringes, a year and a half ago with wife Umarani and their children Simran, 4, and Siddharth, aged six months Umarani said her husband would leave home early in the morning and spend most of the day in Dum Dum. “He used to come back briefly in the afternoon for lunch,” she said. Champak Bhattacharya, the superintendent of North 24-Parganas police, said sleuths were trying to find out whether Manoj had a criminal past. “District cops and the CID are jointly probing the murder.” Investigating officers suspect professional killers had been hired for the job as only one bullet was fired to kill Manoj. A section of police officers said the activist was a suspect in a murder committed in the airport area a month ago. Municipal and urban development minister Firhad Hakim, sports minister Madan Mitra, education minister Bratya Basu and junior Union minister Mukul Roy were among the senior Trinamul leaders who visited the spot and spoke to the Sahani’s family members. Mitra alleged Manoj was a victim of political conspiracy. He blamed the CPM for the “worseing law and order situation in Dum Dum”.

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.