Disco raids yield Rs 50 lakh tax

he civic authorities raided discotheques at several city hotels on Christmas Eve and collected over Rs 50 lakh in amusement tax on Thursday. Sources said this was the first time the CMC carried out such raids on hotels and bars. According to civic norms, hotels and bars have to pay additional amusement tax for holding programmes on special occasions.

Held for fraud: A CMDA official was arrested at his office in Unnayan Bhavan in Salt Lake on Friday on the charge of duping a Purbachal resident of Rs 7 lakh since 2004. Arun Ghosh was picked up following a complaint by Santosh Kumar Das earlier this year.

Das said Ghosh had promised him a plot in a prime location in Salt Lake. Das paid the money but Ghosh did not give him with the promised plot. After the police started a probe, Ghosh returned a part of the money to Das. The cops arrested Ghosh as he did not pay the remaining amount. Ghosh, a resident of Chinsurah, was remanded in police custody till December 29.

Body found: The body of a woman in her 30s was found wrapped in a sack in a trunk on the S-7 coach of the Mithila Express on Thursday. Sources said GRP personnel spotted the trunk on the train at Howrah station at 6.30am. An officer said the body, which bore an injury mark on the head, was sent for post-mortem.

Husband arrested: Schoolteacher Binoy Pradhan, 32, was arrested after his deceased wife’s family lodged a police complaint accusing him of torture. The Sonarpur resident’s wife, Suparna, 30, died of burn injuries at a local hospital on Thursday. Police said Suparna suffered serious burns on Monday evening. The couple married six years ago.

Special trains: Eastern Railway will run a pair of special trains between Sealdah and Dankuni on January 1 on the occasion of Kalpataru Utsav at Dakshineswar. The train will leave Sealdah at 1.20pm and reach Dankuni at 2.03pm. It will leave Dankuni at 2.12pm and reach Sealdah at 2.54pm.

Death: Arati Srimal, 86, the founder-chairperson of Nehru Children’s Museum, died early on December 21 at AMRI Hospitals. Srimal was associated with the Dover Lane Music Conference and an alderman of the civic body. he was also a member of the All India Congress Committee, Censor Board (West Bengal), All India Radio (West Bengal), Doordarshan (Calcutta) and the All India Khadi Board.

Reunion: The alumni association of the Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur, will celebrate its reunion on Friday.