Panchayat member thrashed

Calcutta, April 20: A Trinamul Congress gram panchayat member from Saksar in South 24-Parganas was tied to a lamp post and beaten up by alleged CPM activists today. They also put a garland of shoes around Safiq Mollah’s neck.

The incident sparked a clash between Trinamul and Congress supporters. Four persons from both groups were injured. Police said three persons have been arrested.

Siliguri row

Siliguri: The hearing on the police lathicharge on an ex-servicemen’s rally in Siliguri began on Sunday. Five persons appeared before a one-man probe panel. “I told the commission what I saw at Darjeeling More on April 9. I said the police did not act in an appropriate manner,” said Mams Tamang, a member of the ex-servicemen’s organisation, which is affiliated to the Gorkha Janshakti Morcha .

Nod to tie-up

Suri: State Congress chief Priya Ranjan Das Munshi has said the party will have no problem if a grassroots leader wants to tie up with any other Opposition party. Das Munshi, however, did not name the Trinamul Congress. Addressing a panchayat poll rally at Mohammad Bazaar in Birbhum on Sunday, the Congress leader said: “If Congress district presidents are thinking of allying with any party at the grassroots level to defeat the CPM in the panchayat polls, we have no objection. In fact, I encourage such understandings.”

Bridge

Alipurduar: A portion of a wooden bridge on National Highway 31 caved in on Saturday, blocking traffic to Falakata and forcing Siliguri-bound vehicles from Alipurduar and Cooch Behar to take long detours. PWD engineers said they would need around two days to repair the bridge.