1. MHA Seeks Bengal Report On Contai Clashes
A day after Home Minister Rajnath Singh called her up to inquire about the Contai violence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday iterated that BJP workers ransacked vehicles, even refusing to spare school buses.
Following up on Singh’s call, a home ministry undersecretary on Wednesday wrote to the West Bengal government for a report, saying the issue was an “urgent matter”. The state reportedly informed Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba that police were questioning witnesses and scanning CCTV footage for possible “outsider” involvement.
(Source: The Times Of India)
2. 11 Held For Arson After Amit Shah's Rally In Bengal's Contai
Eleven persons have been arrested over the violence after BJP chief Amit Shah’s rally in East Midnapore’s Contai on Tuesday.
The mayhem and clashes between Trinamool and BJP supporters had left over a hundred vehicles damaged and at least 15 persons, including some cops, injured.
The 11 arrested include five labourers of the Calcutta-based decorator who had built the tent for Shah’s rally, a BJP supporter and owner of the rally ground, and five other BJP workers. They face non-bailable charges like attempt to murder.
Accusing Trinamool of unleashing attacks on supporters after Shah’s rally on Tuesday, the BJP held protests in Calcutta on Wednesday. East Midnapore BJP chief Tapan Maity said: “Not a single Trinamool person was arrested.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Returns Painting Fire
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday “challenged” the BJP to prove allegations that “chit fund walas had bought her paintings for crores” while declaring the party and its “rude” chief Amit Shah “unfit for politics and governance”.
“Modibabu, did Mamata take money from the sale of her paintings? Prove it. Prove she took a single paisa in her account. I challenge you,” the Trinamool chief said at a government event in Birbhum’s Rampurhat, a day after Shah made the allegations at a rally in East Midnapore’s Contai.
Declaring the “expiry date” of the Narendra Modi government had arrived, Mamata likened Shah’s speech to “the rudeness of the savages”. “(The speech was) not even bare minimum by way of courtesy. Unfit for politics, unfit for governance…. Our party has sent a notice of defamation (to Shah) and will file a defamation (suit) also.”
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Accused In Audi Hit-And-Run In Kolkata Now A Free Man
A young man who spent three years in jail facing trial for running over an Indian Air Force corporal with his Audi Q7 during a Republic Day parade rehearsal on Red Road in 2016 was on Wednesday acquitted of murder but held guilty of “causing death by negligence” after the judge introduced this charge in lieu of those that were quashed.
Sambia Sohrab, co-owner of a wholesale fruit business and son of former Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Mohammad Sohrab, walked out a free man despite his conviction because he has already spent a year more in jail than the maximum punishment under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code.
“The accident claimed a young, budding life and it left an indelible mark on all. But the charge of murder under Section 302 is not substantiated,” additional district sessions judge Moumita Bhattacharya said in a packed courtroom.
(Source: The Telegraph)
5. Youth Shoots At College Girl Over Strained Relationship
A 20-year-old BA second-year student was shot at on Tuesday by a youth allegedly over a strained relationship. She was shot from point blank range, barely 100 metres from her home at Sonarpur’s Ghoshpara around 9.15 pm on Tuesday. The suspect, Soumen Koyal, was arrested the same night.
The victim, Pooja Mahajan, was admitted to a private hospital on EM Bypass in a critical state. The spot of the incident was just a kilometre away from Sonarpur police station. Mahajan, who also worked part time with a private firm, was returning from her employer’s Jadavpur office when the incident took place.
Pooja’s mother Titu said her daughter was in a relationship with the youth. However, they broke up around three months ago, after Pooja took up a part-time job. Titu alleged that Koyal once went to their house and warned Pooja against continuing with her job.
(Source: The Times Of India)
6. Malda Hosts TMC Crowd, Cheers For Mausam
The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday organised a public meeting at Nityanandapur near Malda in a show of strength at the same place where BJP national president Amit Shah had addressed a gathering last week.
While the BJP had purportedly brought about 1. 5 lakh people to the meeting, Trinamool boasted of the same figure on Wednesday.
“We have proved Trinamool’s popularity in Malda district and we did not have to spend money and bring in people from neighbouring states, like what the BJP had done. Those who are still outside Trinamool should follow Mausam (Noor) as it is clear that the contest will be between Trinamool and the BJP in the coming elections,” said Bengal minister and Trinamool leader Suvendu Adhikari.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. At Birbhum Wedding, A Special Guest
For more than two decades, Mantu Das has been a domestic help at CM Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence. Banerjee was then a firebrand opposition leader training her guns at the ruling CPM.
On Wednesday evening, Das had a special guest at his elder son Krishanu’s wedding reception at Birbhum’s Kusumba village. On an official tour of the district, the CM took time off to attend the wedding party, much to the delight of the Das family and their awestruck neighbours, who swarmed their home to catch a glimpse of Banerjee blessing the couple.
(Source: The Times Of India)