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Time of India
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Take us home': Birbhum women seek Didi's help in vid appeal from B'desh
1 2 Kolkata: In a video message, members of two Birbhum families pushed to Bangladesh by BSF made an appeal to Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to arrange for their return to India. TOI had earlier reported that six Birbhum residents, including three minors, were nabbed by Delhi cops on June 18 and sent to Bangladesh on June 26. Two habeas corpus petitions were filed in Calcutta High Court. Among the detained were Sweety Bibi and her two minor sons, and Danish Sheikh, his wife Sunali Khatun and their 5-year-old son. "We are not Bangladeshis. We went to Delhi for work but police labelled us Bangladeshis. We showed Aadhaar cards, but Delhi police did not accept them. We are from Birbhum's Paikar, we have our ancestral home there," Sweety and Sunali said in their appeal. The two women and the children stood with folded hands as they spoke. "The police took away our mobile phones and money. They tortured us and sent us here. We have nothing to feed our children, no place to stay. Mamatadidi, please take us back," they said. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata TMC MP and chairman of Bengal migrant workers' welfare board Samirul Islam posted the video on X. Pointing out that PM Narendra Modi had spoken extensively about infiltration during his speech in Durgapur on Friday, Islam said: "Despite being Indian citizens, their only 'crime' was speaking Bengali in BJP-governed Delhi, where they lived for years in search of work. Sunali, eight months pregnant, is now wandering helplessly in Bangladesh — punished for being Bengali in a country where her own govt refuses to protect her. " The MP urged Modi: "It is your duty to stand by them and safeguard their rights."
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Rain on KP mind as cops ready 9-11 plans after HC order
Kolkata: With rain on mind, which can slow down traffic on July 21, Kolkata Police will deploy 5,500 cops at the city centre, and thousands more will be posted from the city's fringes to the Maidan for smooth commuting, officers said. On Saturday, Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Varma toured Kolkata with stopovers at traffic guards on fringes like Thakurpukur and Garia Dhalai Bridge before coming back to the city centre to review traffic preparations. This was in tune with the Calcutta High Court order on Friday that directed Kolkata Police to ensure that no procession for the July 21 rally takes place between 9 am and 11 am. The order further asked cops to ensure there is no traffic congestion on routes leading to the high court and other offices within a five-kilometre radius in central Kolkata. "We have had specific discussions and have passed instructions to my teams. We are taking all adequate measures to ensure the stipulations mentioned by the Honourable HC are maintained. We will ensure that the rally is conducted smoothly without hampering traffic movement and complying with the court order," said Varma. "We also urge commuters to call us on our helplines in case of any trouble." You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata The top cop left his home around 11 am, travelled from Park Circus via the Maa Flyover to Science City. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Paras Sector 59 Gurgaon | Luxury Awaits at Paras Floret Paras The Florett Book Now Undo He then held a brief meeting at Patuli and inspected the area from Dhalai Bridge and drove to Behala Joka, where he interacted with officers of Thakurpukur Traffic Guard. Incidentally, these are the two points from where majority of vehicles carrying supporters from South 24 Parganas arrive. Varma then visited the Hastings area before visiting the Esplanade rally venue. He then headed towards Bhabani Bhawan. Varma added he also had discussions with his counterparts in Baruipur, Diamond Harbour, Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, and Howrah about traffic management from the bordering areas. Sources said the cops plan to halt traffic coming from the city fringes at these bordering areas and wouldn't allow large vehicles carrying supporters to enter the city before 11 am to mitigate the traffic chaos. According to an estimate, several lakhs of people are likely to arrive in Kolkata on Monday in buses and trains from every subdivision block and panchayat area. While the party arranged for accommodation and meals for workers at four different places since Friday, a large chunk of party supporters arrive from the city and its neighbouring districts on the day of the rally, choking city traffic. At Esplanade, final preparations were on, with senior KP officers, including Varma, inspecting the venue. Sniffer dogs and cops from the bomb squad also inspected the stage and the surroundings every few hours. "Rain is our biggest challenge. We are equipped to manage traffic congestion due to the rallyists, but if it rains heavily, our plans will take a hit," said a senior officer.
The Hindu
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Calcutta High Court sets ‘office hour' curbs for Mamata's July 21 rally
The Calcutta High Court on Friday (July 18, 2025) directed that all processions heading to the Trinamool Congress's rally at Central Kolkata's Dharmatala on July 21 must reach the venue by 8 a.m. or after 11 a.m., to ensure the smooth flow of traffic through Central Kolkata during rush hour. The single bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh directed that processions will be allowed until 8 a.m. and will be given until 9 a.m. to settle down. Processions will be allowed to resume only after 11 a.m. to prevent traffic congestion in Kolkata's central business district between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., the court said. 'From 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m., the police authorities would ensure that there is no traffic congestion through the routes which will lead to the High Court at Calcutta or within a fringe of 5 kilometers where the Offices are situated at the Central Kolkata… Commissioner of Police, Kolkata would ensure that deployment of police force be adequately maintained to ensure smooth traffic movement,' the Court's July 18 order reads. The Trinamool Congress has been hosting a massive Martyrs' Day rally in Central Kolkata on July 21 for the last two decades in remembrance of 13 people killed in a police firing during a protest movement by the West Bengal Youth Congress on 21 July 1993, according to the party's official website. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh, on Thursday, in a verbal observation, also urged the Trinamool Congress to choose a different venue for the Martyrs' Day rally from next year, such as Shahid Minar, the Brigade Parade Ground, or the Salt Lake Stadium. The Court was hearing a petition filed by a group of lawyers alleging potential inconvenience to commuters due to the rally, which will be held on a Monday morning this year.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Life in jail for 9 in first digital-arrest conviction
Kolkata: In possibly the first such sentencing in the country for cybercrimes, a Kalyani trial court on Friday awarded life imprisonment to nine scammers who had extorted Rs 1 crore from a Ranaghat resident by threatening him with 'digital arrest' last year. The court agreed with the prosecution's charge that such crimes were nothing short of "economic terrorism". Arrested from Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat, the nine convicted persons, one of them a woman, are part of a larger gang that has reportedly amassed Rs 100 crore by cheating 108 people across India. They are also likely to face trials elsewhere in the country. Kalyani additional sessions judge Suberthi Sarkar, who had convicted the nine on Thursday, sentenced them to life imprisonment under BNS 338, which involves forging of documents, and 10 other penal offences under both BNS and IT Acts. The defence indicated they would appeal against the conviction in Calcutta High Court. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata IGP (CID) Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi said the nine cyber criminals were tripped by strong digital evidence. "Investigation revealed the fraudsters were siphoning money through multiple bank accounts spread across different states. Police seized numerous bank passbooks, ATM cards, SIM cards and mobile phones during the operation. A detailed analysis of beneficiary accounts and phone numbers led us to uncover this sophisticated network," the IGP said. During the five-month trial, 29 witnesses from four different states testified physically before the Kalyani additional sessions judge. They included the SHO of Andheri (West) Police Station and branch managers of SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank from four states. The charge sheet ran into 2,600 pages. Special prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said they highlighted the ordeal of other victims of the gang and stressed that such frauds were an "an act of economic terrorism". "We told the judge how the hard-earned money of two victims — one a retired professor and the other a retired state govt engineer — were transferred outside the country, one destination probably being Cambodia. This was their life's entire savings. Similarly, we highlighted how another victim had to sell his house to pay the accused and was forced to shift to an ashram," he told TOI.
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Crackdown on Bangladeshis: Hindu refugees feel the heat without docus, CAA still a mirage
Nagpur: With many states, including Maharashtra launching a crackdown on infiltrators from Bangladesh, the Bengali-speaking Hindus who fled the restive country to escape religious persecution are feeling the heat. "We were part of the exodus from erstwhile East Pakistan. Then there was another surge of refugees even after Bangladesh was formed, many of whom were settled in the forested areas of Gadchiroli. We Hindus escaped the communal cauldron to find refuge in India, and now we are being hounded again by police. We feel helpless when asked to prove our credentials in the ongoing drive against illegal Bangladeshis," said Subodh Biswas, national president of Nikhil Bharat Bangali Samanbay Samiti — a nationwide guild of Hindus from erstwhile East Pakistan. With many tossed in detention camps across states, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file an affidavit, explaining the rationale behind the action. Most importantly, despite being Hindus, they cannot become Indian nationals through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to lack of documents, say Samiti leaders. The law opened doors to minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens, but majority Hindus who fled Bangladesh under trying circumstances in the dead of night failed to carry documents with them. Biswas, who is based in Nagpur, told TOI that Bengali-speaking Hindus are now in a spot. "Maharashtra police are demanding documents to prove our nationality, which not many can produce," he said, adding hundreds of Hindus continued to stream into India even after Bangladesh was formed and most of them joined their community members in refugee camps and settlement zones in Gadchiroli. "They could have simply applied under CAA, but documents that need to be submitted include credentials from Bangladesh, which most Hindus don't have. They fled the country under compelling conditions and often to escape death. Who will help them retrieve the papers now," asked Biswas. This makes them vulnerable to police raids. There have been arrests in Maharashtra too. Two migrant workers were arrested in Akola and continue to remain in custody. There was another arrest in Nashik — the person was in India for 50 years, he says. Biswas said the Samiti has demanded that CAA conditions be relaxed for refugees. He also shared a letter issued by the police in Kanker district in Chhattisgarh, appealing to local villagers to share information on Bangladeshi infiltrators. Like Gadchiroli, settlement camps were also established in Chhattisgarh after the 1971 war. Manoj Mandal, the Samiti representative at Pakhanjur town of Chhattisgarh, said the state has also issued a toll-free number for locals to report on the whereabouts of Bengali-speaking people. This has created troubles for many Hindus. At times even personal scores are being settled. In Odisha, where detention camps were set up, said Nimai Sarkar, a former MP and now the state president of the Samiti. "Hindus fled for their lives and did not carry anything. How can they be expected to submit documents if they apply under CAA," he asked. A CAA applicant can put up any document like a birth certificate from Bangladesh, a passport, or even a paper that proves the applicant's grandparents were citizens of that country, said a source handling the cases.
