Six Bangladeshi citizens linked to Awami League arrested in Kolkata for illegal stay

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Kolkata, Feb 17 (IANS) Kolkata Police have arrested six Bangladeshi nationals from a hotel in central Kolkata for overstaying in India after their visas expired, the police said on Tuesday.

Officers from Park Street police station raided the hotel in Collin Street, after receiving information that six Bangladeshis were hiding in the city in fear of returning to their country, as their visas had expired a long time back.

In the initial investigation, the police have learned that all these Bangladeshi youths are members of the Awami League.

After the unrest in Bangladesh, they fled to Kolkata on medical visas, fearing attack. Six valid Bangladeshi passports have been recovered from them.

The arrested have been identified as Abir Hossain, Mohammad Mamun Rashid, Mohammad Alimun Gazi, Azam Mollah, Faizal Amin and Zaidul Islam. Among them, Azam Mollah is a Bangladeshi singer.

Even after coming to Kolkata, he has been singing in familiar circles. After being arrested early on Monday morning, Azam did not want to part with his guitar. He also requested the officers of Park Street Police Station to let him sing. However, when they were produced before the Bankshall Court on Monday, the judge ordered that all six of them be kept in judicial custody till February 27.

Police sources said that the arrested persons are between 25 and 35 years old. They are mainly residents of Noakhali and Tangail in Bangladesh.

All six of them left the country separately last year due to the turbulent situation in Bangladesh. They came to Kolkata with a visa due to medical treatment for physical illness. They contacted each other here. Gradually, they started staying in different hotels. Some of them also looked for work here. Among them, singer Azam Mollah was also singing in the circle of acquaintances.

According to police sources, their visas started expiring in November last year. By January, everyone’s visas had expired. But none of them wanted to return to Bangladesh, fearing for their lives. They started staying at a hotel on Collin Street about seven days ago, where they were arrested.

Even after their arrest, the arrested Bangladeshis, members of the Awami League, told the police that they did not want to return to the country. However, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said, “The process of ‘pushing them back’ to Bangladesh will continue as per the law after the end of their sentence.”

–IANS

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The model-turned-actor arrived at the EOW office at police headquarters around 11 a.m., where he faced questions on his possible links with Ketan Kadam, one of the 13 people booked in the scam so far, the official said.

An official said the actor’s phone number had cropped up in the call records of the accused involved in the scam, for which three Mumbai civic officials and five contractors have also been booked.

Earlier in the month, Mumbai Police claimed that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials and contractors used bogus billing to release funds without physical desilting being done in the river, a major reason for rainwater not flowing into the river and causing flooding in areas along the banks.

After raiding eight premises, Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Sangramsingh Nishandar said the FIR was registered at Azad Maidan Police Station following preliminary findings that pointed towards “culpability”.

Nishandar said the FIR was registered due to the use of fake bills and fake MoUs deposited in the BMC related to the alleged desilting work. The accused were booked under penal provisions dealing with cheating, breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy. If the charges are proved in court, the accused may get a punishment of up to seven years in jail.

The FIR covered offences committed during the preparation of a contract for desilting, transportation of desilted material’s dumping at nine spots and verification of the contractors’ obligations under the contract by officials, he said.

Nishandar said the SIT investigators scanned the processes and contract procedures and found that the contractors deposited fake bills concerning nine spots where the desilted material was supposed to be dumped on land.

He also pointed to discrepancies in MoUs signed between owners of land where the silt was allegedly dumped by desilting contractors and BMC officials.

In some cases, landowners told the police that they never entered into a contract with contractors engaged in desilting, yet fake MoUs bearing their names were deposited by the contractors in BMC, he said.

“Some of the owners of lands, where the silt was to be dumped, mentioned in documents, don’t exist. So, when there were no landowners and land, there is a suspicion that the silt was never removed from the river,” he said.

Some of the companies under the EOW scanner include Acute Design, Kailash Construction, N.A. Construction, Nikhil Construction and J.R.S Infrastructure.

“These companies have been accused of depositing fake MoUs,” he said.

The DCP said the other aspect of the FIR deals with a field visit conducted by a company called Matprop in February 2020 at the Mithi River, after which its officials, in league with BMC officials, manipulated the terms of the desilting contract for illegal gain.

The FIR named the accused civic officials as Prashant Ramugade, Assistant Engineer and Designated Officer in the Rainwater Drainage Department of the Municipal Corporation, Deputy Chief Engineer (Pajwa), East Suburbs (P.), Ganesh Bendre, Deputy Chief Engineer (Prvp), Pajwa (P.), Taishette, and others.

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Others named in the FIR include Deepak Mohan and Kishore Menon, he said.

An FIR in the desilting case names five contractors, three middlemen, two company officials, and three BMC officials, accusing them of causing wrongful loss to the civic agency, said the police.

The SIT was formed after BJP leader and MLC Pravin Darekar and Prasad Lad raised questions on this issue during the monsoon session of the state Assembly.

The desilting project was part of a larger Rs 1,100 crore Mithi River beautification plan.

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Digvijaya Singh organises premier show of ‘Jungle Satyagraha’ at MP Assembly

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The premiere show organised by former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh at the auditorium of the Vidhan Sabha, was attended by several Congress leaders, including PCC chief Jitu Patwari and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Umang Singhar.

Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Secretary A.P. Singh and two former MLAs from Betul, who have acted in the film – Sukhdev Panse and Dharmu Singh Sirsam — along with director and producer of the film Pradeep Uike also attended the premiere show.

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“It is a story of the beginning of tribal movement against the British rule. I would appeal to people of the state to watch the film to know how our tribal heroes fought for their rights and unity,” Digvijaya Singh said.

The film highlighted the tribal movement that began in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district in 1930s, had characters from tribal communities from Madhya Pradesh’s Betul and Chhindwara districts.

The film ‘Jungle Satyagraha’ highlighted the struggle of tribals trough a non-violent civil disobedience movement against British rule.

Director of the film Pradeep Uike, who is also a resident of Betul, said the movie began at Banjari Dhaal in Betul district, then part of Madhya Bharat.

“The film features tribal actors, many of whom are local, and was mostly shot in Betul and Chhindwara districts. The film’s premiere at the Vidhan Sabha is a significant milestone for the movement’s recognition,” Uike said.

He further stated that the movie is a tribute to key leaders of the movement, including Sardar Ganjan Singh Korku, Sardar Vishnu Singh Gond, Thakur Mohkam Singh, Ramji Korku and Jugru Gond.

Notably, Rampur police station in Betul, where tribal freedom fighters were imprisoned and tortured, has been transformed into a museum to honour the Jungle Satyagraha and its legacy.

Earlier, Digvijaya Singh had said that he had requested Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to make ‘Jungle Satyagraha’ tax free in the state. However, the state government is yet to make any announcement in this regard.

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Kamal Haasan set to enter Rajya Sabha with DMK support as CM Stalin announces candidates

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P. Wilson, who holds a B.Sc. and B.L. degree, is a sitting Rajya Sabha MP and a prominent lawyer at the Supreme Court of India. He is widely recognised for representing the state in several high-profile legal battles and is a trusted legal voice within the DMK leadership.

S.R. Sivalingam is a veteran leader from the DMK and has previously served as a Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. His nomination reflects the party’s effort to balance legal expertise with administrative experience in the upper house.

Rokiaya Malik, alias Kavignar Salma, a well-known voice in contemporary Tamil literature, is celebrated for her poetry and novels that explore themes of gender, identity, and social justice. A recipient of several literary awards, her inclusion in the list reflects the DMK’s commitment to cultural representation and women’s empowerment.

The DMK’s decision to allot a seat to the MNM is being seen as a strategic move to strengthen the alliance and broaden its influence at the national level.

With this development, Kamal Haasan is set to make his parliamentary debut, marking a significant moment in his political journey.

The Rajya Sabha elections are expected to be a formality, as the ruling coalition has the necessary strength in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly to ensure the victory of all four nominees.

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