Page 23 - Tmc

Houses of local TMC leaders ransacked in fresh protests at Sandeshkhali

Fresh protests erupted in parts of trouble-torn Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on Monday as locals ransacked properties of local TMC leaders, accused of tormenting villagers in the region, police said. Armed with sticks, they attacked a few houses in Bermajur area of Sandeshkhali, venting their fury against local TMC panchayat leader Shankar Sardar, a senior officer said. Shankar, an accused of land grabbing, was not at home but his family members were beaten up by the villagers, he said. "The police for years did nothing. That is why we are doing everything to get back our land," a protester said. However, Shankar's family denied the charge. The police later entered the area and tried to pacify the protesters. The fresh protests erupted after a TMC delegation visited the restive Sandeshkhali for the second consecutive day on Sunday and heard the grievances of villagers who have been protesting against alleged atrocities by local leaders of the ruling party. The riverine Sandeshkha

Another TMC leader arrested in Sandeshkhali, FIR lodged against Shajahan

The West Bengal Police arrested TMC leader Ajit Maiti from the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on the charges of land grabbing from villagers, an officer said on Monday. Maiti, considered a close aide of absconding TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh, was detained on Sunday evening from the residence of a civic volunteer where he had locked himself for over four hours after being chased by villagers, he said. "We have arrested him after getting complaints from villagers regarding land grabbing. We will produce him in the court later in the day," the police officer told PTI. After getting over 70 complaints, the police lodged an FIR against Shajahan Shiekh, he said. Most of the complainants claimed that Shajahan was actively involved in the forcible acquisition of their land and torturing of local women, the police officer said. Angry villagers had attacked Maiti a couple of days back for his alleged ties with Shajahan and his group, accused of land grabbing and

Anurag Thakur hits out at TMC, condemns atrocities in restive Sandeshkhali

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur has hit out at the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal, accusing it of doing nothing to control the goons targeting innocent people in trouble-torn Sandeshkhali. Thakur was speaking to reporters on the sideline of a function in Bhota on Friday night. "The sad thing is that the West Bengal government is not doing anything... If women were not safe under the rule of a woman chief minister, then questions start to arise on the law-and-order situation in the state," he said. An intense political row involving the BJP and the Trinamool Congress has erupted after several women in Sandeshkhali, in the state's North 24 Parganas district, accused the regional party's strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexual assault". Fresh protests erupted in the village on Friday as locals torched the property of the accused Trinamool leaders and held demonstrations against the delay in arresting Sheikh. Th

NHRC visits Sandeshkhali for 2nd day to probe allegations of land-grabbing

An NHRC team visited trouble-torn Sandeshkhali for the second consecutive day on Saturday to investigate into allegations of land-grabbing by some TMC leaders. A CPI(M) delegation led by Minakshi Mukhopadhyay also visited the strife-hit region in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal even as an uneasy calm prevailed with police patrolling the area. Mukhopadhyay, along with party leader Palash Das, visited various households and spoke to the locals. ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar also made a visit to the area. Meanwhile, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari likened the situation in Sandeshkhali to Nandigram, where a movement against "forcible" land acquisition by the then Left Front government in 2007-08 catapulted the TMC to power in 2011. "The situation in Sandeshkhali is like Nandigram... people have brought serious allegations of land-grabbing, vote-looting, sexual harassment and murder of democracy in the area," he told reporters in Kolkata. Prohibitory orders under Section 14

Lok Sabha polls: Congress offers Trinamool a new seat-sharing deal

In Bengal, the Congress is keen to contest four or five of the state's 42 seats in alliance with the ruling Trinamool

Delhi HC dismisses TMC leader Moitra's plea alleging media leakage from ED

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra's plea against the alleged leakage of "confidential" information from the ED to the media in relation to a probe against her under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). "Dismissed," said Justice Subramonium Prasad while pronouncing the verdict. Moitra had sought a direction to restrain the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from "leaking any information, including any confidential, sensitive, unverified/unconfirmed information, to the print/electronic media in relation to the ongoing investigation". She had also sought a direction to restrain several media organisations from "leaking, publishing/broadcasting of any information related to the ongoing investigation/proceedings in relation to the investigation being carried out by Respondent No.1 (ED) ... under which a FEMA summons has been issued to the petitioner". A detailed copy of the court's decision is awaited. The senior counsel appearing in

Sandeshkhali row: ED files fresh case against TMC's Shahjahan Sheikh

Multiple teams of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at locations linked to TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh

ED raids residences of absconding TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh's associates

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at residences of businessmen associated with absconding Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh in connection with an old case of fraudulent land grab, a senior officer said. Raids and search operations were started by the ED early Friday morning at five different places in and around the city including Howrah, Bijoygarh and Birati, he said. "These raids are in connection with an old case of fraudulent land grab against Shajahan Sheikh and his associates. These people were involved in fish businesses with Shajahan. We are looking for a few specific documents", the officer said. The ECIR is generally filed by the ED as the case Information report. It is similar to a First Information Report (FIR) in criminal cases, he explained. On January 5, a team of ED officers were assaulted by a mob when they tried to enter the residence of Shajahan at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Three officers were inj

Mamata Banerjee announces alternate Aadhaar card upon deactivation

UIDAI has declared that no Aadhaar number has been cancelled; BJP leaders assure that deactivated cards would be reactivated within 24 hour

'Mamata is still defending it': BJP ups attack on TMC over Sandeshkhali

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said that Mamata Banerjee is defending the Sandeshkhali issue to save her political reputation

Sandeshkhali violence: Supreme Court pauses Parliament panel probe against officers

Sandeshkhali violence: Supreme Court has paused Parliament panel probe against key officers in West Bengal. Watch the video to know about the latest updates

Suvendu Adhikari to visit Sandeshkhali after court permission. Top updates

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's visit comes a day after the Calcutta High Court (HC) granted him permission to visit Sandeshkhali

Sandeshkhali violence updates: What's happening in West Bengal explained

Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, has been at the centre of a political storm for nearly a month following serious allegations against a local TMC leader

'Hunting down Hindu women': BJP trains gun on TMC over Sandeshkhali

'Women are the most unsafe in a state where a woman is the chief minister,' said BJP MP Locket Chatterjee on Monday

Mamata accuses BJP of instigating turmoil in Sandeshkhali, party hits back

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday pointed fingers at the BJP for instigating the turmoil in Sandeshkhali, eliciting a swift rebuttal from the BJP, which in turn accused the TMC and the state government of complicity in crimes against women. As the situation in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas, gradually returns to normalcy following a week of protests alleging atrocities on villagers and sexual harassment of women by local Trinamool Congress leaders, a TMC delegation including three ministers, visited the area. They pledged zero tolerance against any wrongdoing while questioning the actions of BJP-led governments in states facing similar allegations. Meanwhile, Sukanta Majumdar, West Bengal BJP president, announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a women's rally in Barasat, located in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, on March 7. Addressing a public distribution program in Suri, Banerjee asserted her initiative in directing

PM Modi likely to address women's rally near Sandeshkhali on March 7

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address a women's rally in Barasat in West Bengal on March 7, amid a political row over allegations of sexual assault of women by members of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress in Sandeshkhali, BJP leaders said on Sunday. The scheduled rally at the headquarters of North 24-Parganas district, where Sandeshkhali is located, will be held a day before International Women's Day, they said. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, who was here to attend the party's national convention, said the prime minister is likely to visit Barasat on March 7 to address a women's rally. Majumdar had to be hospitalised with injuries last week as BJP workers clashed with police personnel after being stopped from going to Sandeshkhali. The state BJP president, other party leaders and a central fact-finding team of the party have been stopped by police from visiting the area. Sandeshkhali has been tense with a large number of women in the locality accusing

Another prime accused arrested in Sandeshkhali land grab, sexual abuse case

One of the prime accused in the case of alleged land grab and sexual harassment of women in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district was arrested on Saturday, police said. Local TMC leader Shibaprasad Hazra, who has been named in police complaints along with party colleagues and other two prime accused Shajahan Sheikh and Uttam Sardar, was nabbed from a hideout in Sandeshkhali. He will be produced before a local court on Sunday. "We have arrested Shibaprasad Hazra from Sandeshkhali this evening. He will be produced before the court tomorrow," an officer of Nazat Police Station told PTI. Earlier, police have also arrested Uttam Sardar but Shajahan Sheikh remains absconding. With the fresh arrest, two of the three prime accused have been nabbed. A total of 18 people have been arrested in the case so far. Meanwhile, the police added IPC sections 376D (gangrape) and 307 (attempt to murder) in the case after a survivor recorded her statement under Section 164 of Code o

Oppn stopped from visiting Sandeshkhali, NCSC recommends President's rule

National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) chief said the commission has recommended the imposition of President's rule in West Bengal in its report submitted to President Droupadi Murmu

BJP, Cong teams to visit West Bengal's violence-hit Sandeshkhali today

West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, which has been rocked by protests over alleged atrocities on villagers by TMC leaders, continued to remain tense on Friday even as a BJP central team and a Congress delegation are scheduled to visit the area during the day. The police have been patrolling the area and have put up barricades to stop the visit of political leaders to the area, apprehending that it might worsen the situation. Six BJP MPs, including five women, are scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district this afternoon and they alleged that the law and order there was "non-existent". BJP president J P Nadda has constituted the six-member committee of party MPs to visit Sandeshkhali where women have been protesting against alleged atrocities by local TMC leaders. Union ministers Pratima Bhoumik, Annapurna Devi, who is the committee's convener, Sunita Duggal, Kavita Patidar, Sangeeta Yadav and Brij Lal, a former Uttar Pradesh DGP, are members of the panel. "We hope the .

TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty resigns from Lok Sabha, says 'politics not for me'

Announcing her resignation from the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP, Mimi Chakraborty, on Thursday said "politics is not for me."Mimi Chakraborty said, "Politics is not for me. You have to promote someone here (in politics) if you are helping someone...Besides being a politician, I also work as an actor. I have equal responsibilities. If you join politics, you are criticised whether you work or not. I spoke with Mamata Banerjee regarding the issues I had. I wanted to tell her about my resignation from a party that gave me an opportunity to go ahead. I had also told her in 2022 about my resignation from the post of an MP. She had rejected it at that time. I will complete the further process after whatever she says."She further said that she was facing a lot of hurdles in giving service to her constituency."I have faced several hurdles in serving the people. I have given my resignation two days ago. CM Mamata Banerjee has not accepted my resignation. I have never spoken ill ...