Bengal: NIA takes charge of Beldanga probe; gets custody of 7 accused

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Kolkata, Feb 27 (IANS) After a prolonged tug-of-war, the West Bengal Police on Friday agreed to hand over the case diary in the recent Beldanga violence case in minority-dominated Murshidabad district to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the matter following clearances from the Calcutta High Court as well as the Supreme Court.

The state police also informed a trial court in Kolkata of its decision to transfer the case diary to the NIA. The court subsequently remanded seven accused to seven days of NIA custody. The remaining 24 accused will remain in judicial custody during this period.

On Friday, when the trial court directed the state police to hand over the case diary to the NIA, counsel for the state police offered to transfer the documents immediately within the courtroom.

However, the NIA’s counsel declined the offer and insisted that the formal protocol be followed, with the case diary being handed over at the NIA office in Kolkata. The state police later agreed to comply with the procedure.

In January this year, tension and violence broke out in Beldanga following the circulation of alleged fake information about the murder of a migrant worker from the area in neighbouring Jharkhand. The Jharkhand Police later termed the death a case of suicide, citing the post-mortem report.

Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had approached the Calcutta High Court seeking an NIA probe into the violence.

After the High Court permitted the NIA to investigate the case, the West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the order for an NIA probe.

The apex court, however, declined to interfere. Despite this, the impasse continued for some time, with the state police initially refusing to hand over the case diary to the central agency.

–IANS

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72 student suicide deaths reported in last five years: Odisha CM

Bhubaneswar, March 10 (IANS) At least 72 student suicide incidents have been reported in various government, private schools and colleges across the state since 2020, said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in Odisha Assembly on Monday.

Majhi divulged the information on Monday while answering a question asked by congress MLA Sofia Firdous regarding the number of suicide deaths and measures taken by the state government to conduct mental health awareness programmes for students.

“A total of 72 student suicide cases have been reported in Government and Private Schools and Colleges across Odisha during the year 2020 to 2025 (till 28.02.2025),” informed CM Majhi on Monday.

Majhi further narrated the major reasons identified by the authorities that are leading the gullible young students to end their lives.

The Chief Minister revealed that denial of phone usage in the school hostel, issues arising out of love affairs, and depression related to examination and love affairs as major causes forcing students to commit suicide.

Besides, the Chief Minister also stated that academic stress, homesickness and parental restriction on visiting home, domestic conflict, psychological problems, mental imbalance and harassment by fellow students, school and college authorities, etc. as other important reasons responsible for student suicides.

CM Majhi also said that the government has no information regarding measures taken or proposed to conduct mental health awareness programmes for students and train teaching staff to identify and support students showing signs of distress.

The recent suicide of a Nepali female student in the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar exposed harassment by accused fellow students and the negligence by the authorities of the educational institutions.

The students alleged that the private university did not give any heed to the repeated complaints lodged by the victim girl regarding the harassment by the accused.

Notably, the state government has recently revealed that as many as 26 students have died in the residential schools governed by the ST and SC Development Department of Odisha government since July 2024.

–IANS

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From accusation to validation? Rahul’s claims mirror ECI’s ‘SIR’ objectives

New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday presented what he claimed was concrete evidence of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) alleged collusion with the BJP to manipulate voter rolls and “steal votes” during the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka.

However, his highlighting of large-scale irregularities in the voter list is now being seen as indirect validation of the ECI’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar—an exercise aimed at ensuring that no eligible voter is excluded and no ineligible voter is included.

Political observers note that the very issues Gandhi flagged in Karnataka are precisely what the SIR campaign seeks to rectify.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s post on X positions Rahul Gandhi’s press conference as not only a political misfire but a paradox.

He sarcastically refers to Gandhi’s accusations as a “fizzled nuclear test” while highlighting that Congress, perhaps inadvertently, endorsed the Election Commission’s SIR initiative in Bihar. This campaign aims to sanitise the voter rolls by removing duplicate, ineligible, or displaced voters, issues that Gandhi himself claims are distorting the democratic process.

“Saw Rahul Gandhi’s “nuclear bomb” press conference fizzle out, but the good news is that Congress has strongly endorsed the ECI’s SIR (Special Intensive Revision) campaign in Bihar today. After all, the Election Commission is actively fixing issues like Bangladeshi votes, missing votes, displaced voters, and duplicate entries of the same person in multiple places, all to clean up the voter list,” Dubey wrote on X.

In light of this development, the BJP and several observers argue that Gandhi’s critique paradoxically affirms the very efforts being undertaken to resolve the discrepancies he has raised.

The core of Gandhi’s grievance lies in the opacity and inaccessibility of voter data. According to some experts, the issue that Rahul Gandhi has raised touches upon the wider issue of institutional access and the ability to verify electoral rolls independently.

He has alleged that “lack of digital transparency” is deliberate, intended to stymie verification efforts by opposition parties.

The Congress party’s manual audit, taking six months for just two constituencies, exemplifies this challenge.

However, the ECI’s position has consistently been that the SIR drive is designed to improve voter list integrity—ensuring no eligible voter is left out and no ineligible voter included.

Meanwhile, critics argue that Gandhi’s claims, rather than undermining the process, highlight the urgency and relevance of such cleanup campaigns. If there are indeed anomalies, then SIR – backed by all parties – should be seen as a step toward resolution, not collusion.

–IANS

brt/dan

VCK to hold statewide protests in TN on August 9

Chennai, Aug 5 (IANS) VCK leader and MP Thol Thirumavalavan has announced that his party will stage statewide protests across all district headquarters on August 9, demanding that the Tamil Nadu government enact special legislation to curb honour killings.

In a statement, Thirumavalavan expressed concern over the recent spate of caste-based murders in the state and called for stringent legal measures to eradicate such crimes.

“We are demanding a separate law to address honour killings, which continue to plague our society. Our protests on August 9 will send a strong message to the government,” he said.

In addition to the protest announcement, Thirumavalavan strongly criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted in poll-bound Bihar. He called the drive an “anti-democratic exercise” allegedly orchestrated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) under pressure from the BJP-led Union government.

He claimed that the first phase of the SIR had resulted in the exclusion of around 65 lakh voters, a majority of whom were from minority communities.

“This is a premeditated move that poses a serious threat to democracy,” he alleged.

Thirumavalavan also condemned the silence in Parliament over the issue. “Though several Opposition leaders and Members of Parliament have demanded a debate on this matter, the SIR has not been taken up for discussion so far,” he said.

He urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the implications of the SIR and develop a common strategy.

The VCK leader further warned that a similar voter revision exercise could soon be carried out in Tamil Nadu.

“We have received information that the ECI is planning to implement SIR across all states. It could be carried out here as well,” he cautioned.

He raised concerns over the enrolment of interstate migrant workers in the Tamil Nadu electoral rolls. “Around 70 lakh people have migrated to Tamil Nadu from other states for work and trade. Attempts to enrol them without proper scrutiny may pose a threat to the interests of the state in the long run,” he added.

–IANS

aal/dpb