Boy goes missing

Barasat, Jan. 31: A Class VII student from Barasat, 20km from Calcutta, is missing since he left home to play with his friends on Thursday afternoon.

Simul Sen’s father, a contractor engaged in painting buildings, said he had not received any ransom call. North 24-Parganas police chief Supratim Sarkar said Simul had left for home after discussing Saraswati Puja plans with his friends.

Bird flu

Cooch Behar: Bird flu has been confirmed in two villages of Cooch Behar district. The animal resource development minister said in Calcutta that culling in Dinhata-I and Mathabhanga-I blocks would begin at the earliest.

Lab death

Calcutta: A guard was found dead on Saturday morning in a south Calcutta pathological lab where he worked. Sheikh Jamshed, 40, from Nanur in Birbhum, was employed with a private security agency that had posted him at Dr Lal Path Labs. Police said it appeared to be a murder for gain, but the robbers would have expected more than the Rs 4,500 they got in the lab.