Ritabrata granted bail
• RAIGANJ: The district and sessions court of Balurghat granted bail to ousted CPM Rajya Sabha member Ritabrata Banerjee on Friday. Banerjee had filed the petition following a complaint by a woman based in Balurghat that he had sexually exploited her promising marriage. The court in its order has said Banerjee will have to appear before the CID officials who are investigating the case at regular intervals. He will also have to inform the investigators in case he moves from one place to another. The MP has been instructed by the court to surrender in the lower court within three weeks. Asked about the bail, the woman said she would consult with her lawyers and would file a petition in higher courts against Banerjee.
Syrup, pills seized
• SILIGURI: Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Rima Mondal, a resident of Haiderpara of Siliguri, on Friday. SSB sources said she was in possession of over 10,000 bottles of syrup and over 8,000 sleeping pills, which cost around Rs 12 lakh.
Wards' shift
• JALPAIGURI: Officials of Jalpaiguri district hospital said on Friday that medicine and surgery wards of the facility would be temporarily shifted to the super-specialty hospital of the town from November 7. This is because extensive repairs would be carried out in the two wards of the district hospital. A sum of Rs 50 lakh has been approved by the state finance department for the work.
Road blocked
• COOCH BEHAR: Residents of Ranirhat under Mekhliganj subdivision resorted to a six-hour long blockade of the Ranirhat-Changrabandha road on Friday. They were protesting the movement of heavy vehicles through rural routes. Such movement of trucks, they said, have damaged the roads and is causing inconveniences for them. The demonstration was withdrawn after police intervened.
Road work starts
• COOCH BEHAR: North Bengal development minister Rabindranath Ghosh initiated a road project at Dinhata on Friday. Ghosh said a 40km long road would be built along the Cooch Behar-Dinahata-Gitaldaha route and would end along the India-Bangladesh border. A sum of Rs 126.25 crore has been sanctioned for the project, the minister said. Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha was present at the event.
Dengue protest
• RAIGANJ:BJP supporters demonstrated in protest against the dengue outbreak in front of the office of chief medical officer of health of South Dinajpur on Friday. Led by the party's district president, Subhendu Sarkar, over 100 supporters held a rally and demonstration. They have demanded immediate intervention of the district health department to prevent the alleged rise in dengue cases in the district.
Suicide
• RAIGANJ: Swapna Sarkar allegedly hanged himself at her home in Nandana under Itahar police station on Thursday night. Police have recovered a suicide note from the 20-year-old college student's room. She mentioned in the note that she had an affair with a youth from Raiganj for three years and he had refused to marry her. The police suspect she killed herself because of the youth's refusal to marry her. The youth has gone into hiding, police sources said.
Dongles given back
• JALPAIGURI: A toto (battery-operated rickshaw) driver handed over 15 dongles used for internet connectivity to an employee of a private telecom company after he had left the same in the vehicle on Friday. Police said Sudip Pal, the employee, had taken the toto to reach Paharpur More to take a bus for Dhupguri, where he was posted, on Thursday night. Pal, however, did not take the box containing the dongles as he paid the toto driver. Pradip Singh, the toto driver, spotted the box and went to Kotwali police station. There, he handed it over to the police. Later, Pal reached the police station and got the box back.
Temple protest
• JALPAIGURI: A group of traders and some BJP supporters demonstrated in Jalpaiguri town on Friday when the civic authorities demolished a temple to build a new market complex site. Police officers and Mohan Bose, the civic chairman, went to the spot and placated the agitators. Bose said the civic body would build the temple again. The new market complex is being built with funds from the north Bengal development department.
