1. Cheating Case on Cox & Kings
Calcutta police have started a probe against the promoters and directors of Cox & Kings India Ltd after several customers alleged the travel agency had cheated them of over Rs 4 crore for Puja holiday tours it later called off abruptly.
The agency’s main office on Calcutta’s 6 Russel Street has been closed for the past few days. The probe by the detective department follows a complaint lodged with Shakespeare Sarani police station on Thursday by a customer, Camellia Dutta of Belgharia, and several others.
They have alleged that the company had collected Rs 75 lakh from them for tours to various countries but cancelled the trips.
Some of the customers have told the police that they were called up suddenly and told their trips had been called off because of unavoidable circumstances. Cox & Kings officials were not available for comment.
(Source: The Telegraph)
2. CBI Moves SC After Rajeev’s Pre-Arrest Bail
The CBI on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of the Calcutta High Court division bench that granted anticipatory bail to CID additional director general Rajeev Kumar.
In a Friday afternoon development, the CBI’s legal team — that had reached New Delhi on Thursday morning — filed the petition in the apex court.
The SC will go on a Dussehra holiday and will resume work after 14 October. The matter, which is pending scrutiny, could be taken up for hearing only after that.
Kumar had on Thursday secured anticipatory bail from the Alipore ACJM court after being granted the same by the HC division bench.
(Source: The Times Of India)
3. Mall Fire Papers Under Scan In Calcutta
The fire department will send a notice to the developers and the management of AMP Vaisaakkhi mall asking them to furnish fire-safety papers, a senior officer said on Friday, a day after a blaze in the basement of the building in Salt Lake’s AG block.
According to the officer, the mall management has been asked to come to the fire department’s headquarters on Free School Street in Calcutta with the latest copies of the fire licence and fire audits.
The fire on Thursday afternoon left at least three cars completely burnt and more than 10 two-wheelers charred. The blaze broke out at a time hundreds of shoppers as well as employees of several offices were inside the mall. On Friday, the mall was closed as electricity supply was yet to be restored, an official said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
4. Once Worshipped As Kumari, Still Driven By Power Within
Years ago, when they were children, they were worshipped for a day during Kumari Puja—a ritual that Vivekananda started in Belur Math 118 years ago. The idea came from Ramakrishna’s belief that they were still too young to be influenced by the negative forces of the materialistic world. These ‘Kumaris’ now feel that eventful day had shaped their lives forever.
Basabi Chatterjee, an alumna of St Agnes’ School, distinctly remembers the Astami of 1976. Then only four years old, her mother had decked her up in garlands and jewellery, and everyone kept telling her to remain patient. She could not fathom why hundreds of devotees had gathered around her. “I was told I would be with a lion and that very thought excited me. But the moment I was handed a lotus and seated in front of Durga’s idol, everything around seemed to fall silent and I went in a trance. I felt calm when a crowd usually frightened me. To this day, I can stay tranquil because of that,” she said.
(Source: The Times Of India)
5. Bhatpara Erases Religious Fault Lines For Durga Puja
The best Durga Puja story of 2019 in Bengal has come out of an area that has seen some of the worst violence in the state following this year’s bitterly fought Lok Sabha polls.
At North 24 Parganas’ Bhatpara – that witnessed frequent clashes and bloodshed this June – Hindus and Muslims have come together to organize several Durga pujas. On Thursday night, members of the two communities rubbed shoulders on a mini truck to fetch the idol of the goddess from an artisan’s workshop to the Purani Talab pandal near Rustam Gumti.
(Source: The Times Of India)
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