1. Fearing Violence Kolkata Police Bans Rallies On Hanuman Jayanti
The Kolkata Police will not allow anyone to carry “offensive weapons” during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations on Saturday.
A 20 December notification that banned public display of weapons in the city in 2018 has come into effect from 2 January. The notification prohibits “any person from carrying swords, spears, bludgeons, or otherwise offensive weapons in any public place... for the preservation of the public and public safety”. It specifies certain exemptions, but religious rallies are not among them
The display of offensive weapons can lead police to register FIRs under various non-bailable IPC sections, like 144 (joining unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race) and Section 25 (1A) of the Arms Act. The notification also allows cops to take pre-emptive action like cancellation of permission to take out a rally.
(Source: The Times Of India
2. Asansol Reels Under Raniganj Ripple Effect
The violence which rocked Raniganj on Monday fanned out to Asansol since Tuesday night, prompting police to declare a curfew in Asansol sub-division and suspending Internet services till Friday midnight. From late Tuesday night, armed men took to the streets vandalising around 20 shops, even setting some of them ablaze. RAF and combat forces descended on the now deserted streets even as police alerted people to ignore rumours and lies.
According to local sources, the violence in Asansol was triggered by a religious rally in Dhadka area in Asansol (north), home to state law and labour minister Moloy Ghatak. Sources claimed bombing was reported from the zone and several shops were looted and destroyed. The violence then spread to other pockets like Railpaar, Safi More, Barua Bazaar, Hajinagar, Chandmari, Napitpara and Ramkishan Dangal. Anxious locals started leaving their homes in panic. The administration, already stretched to contain the Raniganj violence, immediately ordered a clampdown and mobilised forces in these pockets.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3.Oyetri's Parents Reject Hospital Ventilation Refund
The West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) recorded the statement of Oyetri Dey's parents on Wednesday. This is the first time the parents were called by the council in connection to the death of the one-and-a-half-year-old, who allegedly died due to negligence while undergoing treatment at AMRI Hospital in Mukundapur on 17 January.
The case is being heard by the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC). Oyetri's parents Jayanta and Shampa lodged complaints with several bodies, including WBMC. The council will probe the role played by the doctors and other medical staffers of the hospital. In a meeting that lasted about half an hour, the council members present recorded the couple's statement.
(Source: The Times Of India)
4. JU, CU On Shortlist for Centre’s ‘Eminence’ Tag
Calcutta University and Jadavpur University were on Wednesday shortlisted for the final round of the selection process for the Institutions of Eminence status to be awarded by the Centre. The two are the first among state-run universities in Bengal to make it to the shortlist. The winners will be announced next month.
IIT-Kharagpur has also made it to the shortlist and some other central institutes from Bengal are likely to appear on the list too.
CU and JU vice-chancellors Sonali Chakraborti Bandopadhyay and Suranjan Das confirmed they had made it to the final round. “We have received a call as well as a letter from UGC, informing us about the good news. We need to make a presentation before the committee in Delhi on 3 April,” said CU vice-chancellor Chakraborty Bandopadhyay.” JU VC Suranjan Das said, “We are happy to be shortlisted and, if we attain the status, it will be a recognition of JU’s excellence.” “It is a matter of pride even to be among those shortlisted for the final round,” a JU physics teacher said.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Law School VC Quits Amid Agitation
The vice-chancellor of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), P Ishwara Bhat, resigned on Wednesday citing "health and family reasons" even as students boycotted classes and shouted slogans demanding his ouster.
Bhat sent his resignation letter to the Chief Justice of India.
He told Metro later that his resignation would take effect on 7 April, once it is placed before the executive council of the law school.
Bhat, 62, has a PhD in law and was formerly dean and acting vice-chancellor of the University of Mysore.
Classes were suspended at NUJS, overlooking the bypass, because of a student agitation for the first time in its 18 years of existence, an official said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. Bar Helps Cops Find Rape Accused
The 25-year-old woman who accused a friend of raping her at his birthday bash in Jadavpur on Tuesday had met him at the bar where he worked, police said.
The statement helped cops locate the building in Gandhi Colony where Biswajit Debnath lived in a rented room and arrest him on Tuesday night based on the woman's complaint, the police said.
A court on Wednesday sent Debnath to five days' police custody.
Debnath has been booked under Section 376 of the IPC that carries a maximum punishment of life in jail and fine.
Debnath, originally from Assam, lived in a rented room on the ground floor of a building in Gandhi Colony where he had arranged his birthday party, the police said.
He had been living in Jadavpur for about five months, the police said.
Apart from the woman and Debnath, there were two others at the party.
"The accused works in a bar. We got his exact address from his workplace," an officer of Jadavpur police station said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
7. 18-Yr-Old Case Resurfaces
The 70 police stations in Calcutta have been asked to try and solve an 18-year-old murder mystery.
Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar asked officers attending the monthly crime conference at Lalbazar on Wednesday to crack the mystery surrounding the murder of a young boy, whose body was found in a guest house on Zakaria Street in central Calcutta.
"The case has remained unsolved all these years. CP (commissioner of police) sir asked us to try and solve the case," an officer who attended the meeting said.
Details of the case and the progress made by the police 18 years ago were shared through a power-point presentation at the meeting.
Sources said the boy had been found strangulated and smothered in the Zakaria Street guest house, where he had checked in a day before with a man. The man introduced himself as the boy's father and said his name was Vijay Singh, which was found to be false.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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