Page 13 - All India Trinamool Congress

ED conducts raids at seven places in Kolkata in Bengal school jobs scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday started conducting raids simultaneously at seven places in and around Kolkata in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in recruitment in schools of West Bengal, a senior officer said. Raids are being held at the residences and offices of those who allegedly "acted as middlemen" in the scam, he said. "These middlemen used to collect money and transfer it to various addresses. We are conducting raids at residences and offices used by them," the ED officer told PTI. Accompanied by a huge number of central forces, the ED officers started search operations at New Town and Nayabad on the eastern fringes of Kolkata, he said. Family members of the alleged middlemen are being questioned, he said, adding that ED officers are yet to enter one of the offices of a middleman since it was closed.

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Ram temple: Akhilesh Yadav gets invite, says will visit after January 22

'We will surely visit with family as devotees after the Pran Pratishtha ceremony,' said Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav

ED raids residences of Bengal minister, TMC leaders; police dispatched

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday searched the residences of West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose, TMC MLA Tapas Roy, and another TMC leader in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments. This was the first ED raid since the assault on its officers during a previous search operation at the residence of a TMC leader at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district in the ration distribution scam last week. In a departure from the previous ED raids, a substantial contingent of central police personnel cordoned off Bose's residence and prevented any gathering of party supporters near it. The central forces were equipped with additional protective gear, including helmets and automatic guns. The central agency's sleuths conducted searches at two residences of Bose in the Lake Town area of North 24 Parganas district, as well as Roy's BB Ganguly Street residence in central Kolkata and Subodh Chakraborty's residence in Birati, North 24

SC to hear union minister Pramanik's anticipatory bail plea on Friday

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on January 12 a plea of union minister of state for home affairs Nisith Pramanik seeking anticipatory bail in an attempt-to-murder case lodged against him in 2018. A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal issued notice to the West Bengal government and asked senior advocate PS Patwalia, appearing for Pramanik, to serve the copy of the petition on the counsel for the state. It listed his plea for hearing on Friday. Pramanik has moved the apex court challenging the January 4 order of the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court by which it had refused to grant him anticipatory bail in the case. During the brief hearing, Patwalia said, "I am a Member of Parliament. The High Court has refused to grant me protection from arrest. I was earlier with the Trinamool Congress and now I am with BJP. Situation in West Bengal is very volatile, I may be arrested in this case, kindly grant me protection." The bench said his plea

ED chief to meet team members in Kolkata today over Sandeshkhali attack

Enforcement Directorate chief Rahul Navin is scheduled to hold a meeting with its officers here on Tuesday over the attack on an ED team during a raid in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district last week. The ED unit in the state has already submitted a report to its headquarters about the incident in which three officers were injured and several of their vehicles vandalised, as hundreds of supporters of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh attacked them on January 5 when the team went to conduct the raid. "The head of the ED will chair a meeting regarding the attack. Discussions will also be held on the progress of others investigations, an officer of the probe agency told PTI. Navin, the ED director, arrived in Kolkata on Monday night. The attack took place when the ED team went to Sheikh's house in Sandeshkhali for a raid in connection with alleged irregularities in the state's ration system. The ED has already lodged a complaint at the Nazat police station in connection with the assaul

Police complaint against Amit Malviya for social media post on Bengal CM

Senior TMC leader Chandrima Bhattacharya has filed a police complaint against BJP leader Amit Malviya for allegedly making defamatory remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Bhattacharya's complaint was in response to Malviya's post on X where he claimed that absconding TMC leader Sahajahan Sheikh, the main accused in the assault case on Enforcement Directorate sleuths, has managed to escape the clutches of law enforcement agencies because of "patronage of Mamata Banerjee." "Shahjahan, who claimed to be a don of Sandeshkhali, is absconding. This would not have been possible without the patronage of Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Home Minister of West Bengal," read a portion of Malviya's post on X. "We have filed a complaint and urged the police to take immediate action against Malviya for his defamatory remarks against the chief minister," Bhattacharya, also a state minister, told reporters on Sunday. Meanwhile, the West Bengal BJP criticised the TMC for tryin

TMC leader Shankar Adhya arrested by ED in alleged ration scam case

Former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday midnight in connection with an alleged ration scam case

ED team attacked in Bengal, BJP demands NIA probe; Governor summons DGP

The ED sleuths were on their way to raid the homes of some local TMC leaders in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam when they came under attack, reports say

ED team searching TMC convenor's premises attacked by 800-1,000 people

An Enforcement Directorate team was attacked by 800-1000 people armed with lathis, stones and bricks while they were on a search operation at the premises of Trinamool Congress (TMC) North 24 Parganas Convenor Sahajahan Sheikh."ED was conducting searches on the three premises of Sahajahan Sheikh, Convenor of TMC, North 24 Parganas in case of PDS scam of West Bengal. During the searches. On one of the premises, ED team with CRPF personnels was attacked by 800-1000 people with an intention to cause death as these people were carrying weapons such as Lathis, stones & bricks," the probe agency said in a post on 'X'.The ED also said that in the attack, three of their officials were grievously injured who were admitted to the hospital. The violent mob also robbed the belongings of the ED officials like their mobile phones, laptop, cash and wallets, the probe agency said."In this incident, 3 ED officials have been grievously injured. Injured ED officials are being admitted to hospital .

Continuance of TMC govt in West Bengal is threat to national security: BJP

The BJP on Friday came down heavily on the Trinamool Congress over an incident of attack on Enforcement Directorate officials in West Bengal, saying the continuance of the party's government under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is a threat to national security. The ED officers were assaulted and their vehicles damaged allegedly by supporters of TMC leader Sheikh Sajahan when they tried to raid his residence in North 24 Parganas district this morning in connection with a probe into the ration distribution scam. According to officials, the ED officers left their damaged vehicles and took auto rickshaws and two-wheelers to move out of Sandeskhali. At least two of the officers suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital. Reacting sharply to the incident, BJP co-incharge for political affairs in West Bengal Amit Malviya wrote on X, "This is how lawless Bengal is." "Continuance of the TMC government in West Bengal is a national security threat, he said. Malviya said the team

ED officers assaulted by TMC leader's loyalists during raid in Bengal

ED officers were on Friday assaulted and their vehicles were damaged allegedly by supporters of TMC leader Sheikh Sajahan when they tried to raid his residence in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district in connection with their probe into the ration distribution scam. The ED officers are conducting raids at 15 places in the state during the day and Sajahan's house is one of them, an officer said. A large number of TMC loyalists first gheraoed the ED officials and the central forces personnel who accompanied them when they reached Sheikh's residence in Sandeshkhali area in the morning and demonstrated before assaulting them and forcing them to leave the area, the officer said. One of the officers suffered head injuries and had to be taken to a hospital, he said. Sajahan is considered to be a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam. "This kind of attack is unprecedented. We have sent a report on Sh

SC seeks LS secretary general's reply on Moitra's plea against expulsion

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general on Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's plea challenging her expulsion from the Lower House. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta refused to pass any order on an interim prayer of Moitra to let her attend the proceedings of the House, saying, allowing it would be like allowing the main petition. "We will consider your plea for interim relief in March," Justice Khanna told Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Moitra. The top court also refused to issue any notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Committee on Ethics of Lok Sabha -- both were made a party by Moitra in her plea -- and said it would only seek a reply from the Lok Sabha secretary general. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Lok Sabha secretary general, requested the court not to issue a formal notice and said that he would file a reply to Moitra's petition. Mehta said the court should not

'It is an art form': TMC's Kalyan Banerjee mimics VP Dhankhar again

Videos showed Kalyan Banerjee mimicking Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar during an Opposition protest outside Parliament last Tuesday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also seen recording Banerjee's act

A sufferer knows how to withstand from inside, says Dhankhar on mimicry row

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was pictured videographing the act on his phone even as fellow Opposition members laughed and clapped

I-T dept recovers Rs 70 lakh in cash from TMC MLA's home in 19-hour search

The Income Tax department has recovered around Rs 70 lakh in cash from the residence of Trinamool Congress MLA Bayron Biswas during a search there in connection with alleged evasion of taxes, a senior official said on Thursday. The search, which started at the legislator's residence at Samserganj in Murshidabad district of West Bengal on Wednesday morning, got over late in the night after around 19 hours, he added. "We have recovered cash amounting to Rs 70 lakh during the raid in Bayron Biswas' residence. There was no clarity on why such a huge amount of money was kept there," the official said. The MLA declined to comment on this matter when PTI contacted him. Biswas won a by-election from the Sagardighi constituency on a Congress ticket but later joined the Trinamool Congress.

Has ruined Bengal's culture: BJP's Saumitra tears into TMC on mimicry row

The BJP Lok Sabha MP said, First, it was (TMC MLA) Akhil Giri who made an offensive remark against our President and now we have one of their MPs mimicking the mannerisms of our Vice President

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Cash for query: Delhi HC reserves order on Mahua Moitra's defamation plea

The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on an interim plea by Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra, who was recently expelled from the Lok Sabha, seeking to restrain BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai from posting or circulating any alleged fake and defamatory content against her. The high court reserved its order on the interim application after hearing the counsel for Moitra, Dubey and Dehadrai. It sought to know from the counsel for the defendants if there was any quid pro quo between Moitra, who was recently expelled from the Lok Sabha, and businessman Darshan Hiranandani. The expelled Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar in West Bengal had, in her plea filed in October, sought permanent injunction against Dubey, Dehadrai, social media platforms X, search engine Google, YouTube and 15 media houses, and wanted them to be restrained them from making, publishing, circulating defamatory, ex facie false and malicious statements against her. She ha

Dhankhar mimicry row takes centrestage, President Murmu expresses dismay

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said she was dismayed at the manner in which Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar was "humiliated" in Parliament complex, Elected representatives, she said, were free to express themselves but it should be within the norms of dignity and courtesy. The president's remarks come a day after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament against the suspension of some Members of Parliament (MPs). "I was dismayed to see the manner in which our respected Vice President was humiliated in the Parliament complex. Elected representatives must be free to express themselves, but their expression should be within the norms of dignity and courtesy. That has been the Parliamentary tradition we are proud of, and the People of India expect them to uphold it," Murmu said in a post on X. As many as 49 more opposition lawmakers were suspended from Lok Sabha on Tuesday for unruly ...