Agartala, Aug. 25: Harry Potter has at last got an authorised Bengali translation of his own. After taking Bangladesh by storm, it is all set to sweep muggles of Tripura and other northeastern states off their feet.

Though British author J.K. Rowling’s sensational creation has outsold even The Bible, readers in Bengali remained deprived of the magical exploits of the new superhero of children and teenagers. When Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix stormed bookshelves in April this year, many a Bengali reader wistfully waited for an edition they could read and understand.

The prospect of easy money had lured two Calcutta-based firms — Nandita Publishers and Sahitya Tirtha — into marketing unauthorised pirated editions of the Potter series in Bengali. The reaction was prompt and harsh as Akash Chitranishi, legal counsel for Rowling and her publisher, filed a suit forcing the guilty publishers to back out and apologise in April this year.

However, Ankur Publications, a leading publishing house of Bangladesh based in Dhaka, has at last secured formal permission from Christopher Little, literary agent of Potter’s creator, to put out Bengali translations.

Bangladeshi writers Sohrab Hossain and Shahabuddin have already translated the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It is currently on sale.

P.K. Chakraborty, a writer and freelance journalist of Tripura, has been authorised to market the Potter books in the Northeast. Another recent bestseller, Living History by former US first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, is also being marketed by Ankur Publications through Sohrab Hossain’s translation.

“Both books have notched up huge successes in Bangladesh and there is no reason whey they should not do so in Tripura and the Northeast,” he said.