Six held with handsets

Malda: Six persons, suspected to be members of an inter-state mobile phone snatching gang, were arrested with 120 handsets from Khaschandpur on Monday afternoon.

Bhuvan Mondal, the superintendent of police of Malda, said five of the arrested men — Rinku Sheikh, Taieb Sheikh, Ershad Sheikh, Rabiul Sheikh and Azad Sheikh — were residents of Kaliachak. Biswanath Choudhury, the sixth gang member, is from Farakka. The police picked them up from Khaschandpur, 30km from here, on a tip-off. The police said the 120 cell phones had been stolen from Jharkhand.

Tea meet

Siliguri: The Progressive Tea Workers’ Union’s decision to go ahead with its indefinite general strike will depend on the outcome of its wage hike meeting with the labour minister on Tuesday, trade union leaders have said. The meeting has been convened by north Bengal development minister Gautam Deb. Labour minister Purnendu Bose will also be present. The trade union’s demand for a daily wage of Rs 130 for garden workers has been rejected by the planters. The strike has been called from Tuesday.

Body found

identified as Basanta Oraon was found on Bijaynagar Tea Estate on Monday. Naxalbari police suspect that the 42-year-old man had committed suicide as traces of a pesticide were found near the body.

Snakebite

Alipurduar: A five-year-old girl died after she was bitten by a snake at Chepani near Shamuktala on Sunday. Police said Priyanka Munda was playing in front of her house when she was bitten by the snake. By the time the girl’s family took her to Alipurduar subdivisional hospital, she had died.

Cattle seized

Islampur: Islampur police seized a truck carrying 20 cattle heads illegally from Bihar to Assam on Monday. The driver of the truck was also arrested. The arrest and the seizure took place on NH31 near Apasara Chowk.