Congress duo held

Krishnagar, Aug. 30: Two Congress leaders of Shantipur were arrested today in connection with the murder of Lalu Ghosh, the local Trinamul Congress secretary, who was picked up from a dhaba and killed around midnight on Monday.

Ghosh was hacked several times before being shot on the forehead. His wife Monica named Jiten Sarkar, a panchayat member, and Nitai Ghosh, the town Congress secretary, in the FIR. Nitai and Jiten were Lalu’s friends two months ago when he was still in the Congress, Monica said. Nadia additional superintendent Biswarup Ghosh said Lalu had no criminal background and he had told police that he could be killed. Congress MLA from Shantipur, 70 km from Calcutta, Ajoy De, said the arrests were unjustified.

Asansol poll

Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday Malay Ghatak, the MLA from Hirapur and the Burdwan Trinamul president, would be the party’s nominee for the bypoll to the Asansol parliamentary seat.