Youth arrested for fraud and forgery ... Left teachers' wing won all 45 seats of North Bengal

KalimNews, Siliguri: Police has arrested a 29 year youth for cheating a girl promising her a seat in the MBBS course of KPC Medical College and Hospital of Jadavpur.
Sumantra Gupta son of Saibal Gupta the medical superintendent of NBMC& H was arrested for taking Ruppes seventeen lakh from Nagma Khan of Kamarpatti, Guwahati with a promise to get her a seat in the MBBS course. As per the complaint filed by Naga, Gupta was arrested yesterday from his residence at Uttarayan and was granted transist remand to be produced in Alipore Court tomorrow. Gupta is arrested under sections 

120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467, 468 (forgery) and 471 (use of forged document) of the IPC and had similar cases against him in the past too and was apprehended by the detective department of the state police.

Sumantra Gupta (face covered) on the Siliguri court premises after his arrest on Thursday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo

TT, Dec. 2: A youth, who claimed he was a doctor, was arrested from Siliguri today by a team of Calcutta police for allegedly cheating a woman of Rs 17 lakh after promising her an MBBS seat.

Nagma Khan of Guwahati had filed a complaint against Sumantra Gupta, alleging that he had given her a fake document confirming her admission to KPC Medical College in Jadavpur, Bengal’s only private medical college.

On being confronted, he promised to return the money and gave her three cheques that bounced.

The detectives said there were at least 12 similar cases of cheating pending against Gupta, whose father is the superintendent of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

The 35-year-old used to run a consulting firm — Vinayaka Consultancy Private Limited — for admission to private medical colleges across India from an office in Lake Gardens in Calcutta. He used to claim that he was a doctor.

In Siliguri, Gupta was picked up from his home in Uttarayon Township. His father Saibal Gupta, the superintendent of NBMCH, said he was, too, ill to talk to the media.

“Nagma Khan, a resident of Kamarpatti in Fancybazar of Guwahati had filed a case against him on October 24 at Lake police station in Calcutta,” said a source in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri that granted Gupta’s transit remand.

“We are looking for a few others in this connection. The racket seems to run deep and it could well be that he has duped several others by promising them admission to private medical colleges,” said a senior officer of the detective department in Calcutta.

Ranjit Saha, the assistant public prosecutor in the Siliguri ACJM’s court, said Gupta had been booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467, 468 (forgery) and 471 (use of forged document) of the IPC.

A relative of the Guptas denied the charges. “He is a doctor and is from a well-established family.

There is no question of him cheating people. We feel it is a handiwork of the girl who has filed a false complaint,” the relative said.
Tipsy jawan runs amok, shoots one - Border bosses mum on firing

The injured BSF jawan Tarsimlal at the Raiganj district hospital on Thursday. Picture by Nantu Dey

TT, Raiganj, Dec. 2: A BSF jawan allegedly under the influence of alcohol fired 20 rounds from his assault rifle at a shop in Kusmandi last night, killing a local and injuring a colleague who had tried to restrain him.

The CPM today enforced a 12-hour bandh in South Dinajpur’s Kusmandi, 40km from here, to protest the unprovoked firing by Vijay Prakash.

The deputy inspector-general of the BSF’s Raiganj range, Jaswant Singh, said Vijay’s battalion was not under his jurisdiction but under that of DIG Malda.

U.K. Nehal, the BSF’s DIG in Malda, was not in town but the staff at his office said the Santhimari camp where Vijay is posted is under the Raiganj range.

A BSF officer, who refused to be named, said Vijay was in BSF custody and senior officers were coming to interrogate him. “We are yet to find out what made him open fire,” he said.

Both Gopal Tudu, the Kusmandi resident who was hit by a bullet in the stomach, and the injured BSF jawan, Tarsimlal, were brought to the Raiganj district hospital in North Dinajpur here late last night. The doctors referred Gopal, 24, to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital but he died on the way.

Bishnu Tudu, Gopal’s uncle who witnessed the incident and had accompanied him to the district hospital here, said Vijay and four other jawans had come to the grocery store of Jagai Sarkar after 6.30pm yesterday.

“My nephew had also come to the shop to buy some items. The five BSF jawans were from the Santhimari camp. They stopped at the shop and enquired about one of their colleagues, who was missing. When we told them that we had not seen anyone, two of them drove off towards the Bangladesh border,” Bishnu said.

About 20 minutes later, the vehicle returned with a third BSF jawan, Vijay. “He was clearly intoxicated and reeking of liquor. He asked for a cigarette. He could hardly stand on his feet in the shop. When his colleagues tried to take him back inside the vehicle, the jawan started firing indiscriminately. Gopal was hit first and he slumped to the ground. We ran helter skelter for cover in the bazaar area,” Bishnu recounted.

When the firing stopped, Bishnu realised that the other jawans had overpowered Vijay. His rifle had been taken away from him and he had been bundled off into the vehicle that drove off towards Santhimari, less than 2km away.

“When we returned to the shop we found that my nephew was bleeding profusely. We first took him to the Kusmandi primary health centre and then to Raiganj district hospital,” said Bishnu. Gopal was declared brought dead at the NBMCH early this morning.

Tarsimlal, the jawan whose right arm was grazed by a bullet, said Vijay was missing when they came to collect the grocery items.

“Last evening when we came to the shop we found that Vijay Prakash was not with us. He was found some distance away. Our colleagues returned with him to the shop. When we tried to persuade him back into the car, he started firing. We ran for cover and took shelter behind our vehicle. He fired all 20 rounds from his Insas assault rifle and when he tried to reload, we overpowered him,” Tarsimlal said.

The zonal committee secretary of the CPM in Kusmandi, Shyamal Ghosh, said the incident was not an isolated one. “Every day the BSF commits some atrocity or the other. They take things from shops without paying money. They snatch vegetables and other crops from farmers walking along the border roads. The people are so scared of them that seldom do they protest,” he said.

The CPM led a demonstration at the Santhimari BSF camp this morning, demanding that it be shifted. “We have observed a 12-hour bandh in the area demanding punishment for the guilty jawan,” he said.

The subdivisional police officer of Kusmandi, Kazi Samsuddin Ahmed, said a murder case had been started against the BSF jawan. “There was tension in the area and we have sent additional forces,” the SDPO said.

Red is still hoping for better performance

KalimNews: In North Bengal, the Left retained all 45 seats of the District Primary school council elections. Left teachers' wing the All-Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association (ABPTA) won 180 of the 193 seats in the state which is two plus than the last polls held five years ago. 

The Trinamul Congress, which is the rival party of the left does not have a teachers’ organisation won 12 seats as independents, 2 from South 24 Pargana, 5 from East Midnapore, 5 from 

Bankura and Purulia  (Congress snatched one there). GJMM in coalition with ABAVP and PPP too had contested in Jalpaiguri district but lost all.

March for Himalayas

Gyalwang Drukpa (centre) leads the padayatra in Darjeeling on Thursday; (above) nuns participating in the walk at Dali. Pictures by Suman Tamang

TT, Kalimpong, Dec. 2: Around 300 Buddhists began a 23-day-long padayatra from a monastery in Darjeeling today to spread a message on clean and green Himalayas.

Attired in traditional maroon gowns, nuns and monks of the Drukpa lineage chanted Buddhist hymns as they, and their followers, walked in single file through the streets of the hill town. The march, led by the head of the lineage Gyalwang Drukpa, will end in Gangtok on December 24.

During the walk, the participants will hike for about six to seven hours every day. Their first halt will be at Jorethang in Sikkim later today.

“We will be visiting different parts of Sikkim during the padayatra and spread the message of a green earth. Our lineage under the leadership of His Holiness, Gyalwang Drukpa, works towards highlighting environmental issues,” said Jigme Karuna Yangchen, a Drukpa nun.

During the march, which began from the Druk Sangag Choling Monastery in Dali, the devotees will collect plastic items found along the road and dispose them of in a proper manner.

“I want the yatras to take place every year. People are still not aware of the hazards of environmental degradation. However, they will slowly come to know about them,” said Gyalwang Drukpa.

According to Yangchen, the head of the lineage had undertaken a similar pilgrimage called “walking on the world’s rooftop” last year. The march had begun from Manali in Himachal Pradesh and ended in Ladakh.

“Seven hundred nuns and monks had covered 400km on foot last year to clean the Himalayas and save the environment. They had collected over 1 lakh plastic bottles during the walk,” Yangchen said.

According to a follower of the Drukpa lineage from America, the highlight of the yatras is the active participation of nuns.

“Traditionally, women are not in the forefront in Buddhism. But the Drukpa lineage led by His Holiness encourages nuns. They practise kung-fu in their monastery in Nepal, which is a sight to watch,” he said.

Sikkim Taekwondo players to compete in the World Taekwondo Hanmadang Championship at Seoul,South Korea

Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, Gangtok, 02 December: Three players of Sikkim Amateur Taekwondo Association(SATA) Mr.Trilok Subba, 6th.Dan Black Belt, Mr.Ugen Gurung,2nd.Dan Black Belt and Mr.Johanan Lepcha,1st.Dan Black Belt will represent Sikkim and India in the the World Taekwondo Hanmadang Championship schedule to be held from 8th to 11th Dec 2010 at Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarter,  Seoul, Korea.

Mr.Trilok Subba will take part in the poomsae and breaking events in the senior category. Mr.Ugen and Johanan will take part in the junior events.The championship is organised by Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarter under the banner of World Taekwondo Federation(WTF). After the championship they will get training under Grant Master Ki Man Kim, 9th.Dan, Black Belt at Daegu City at South Korea for fifteen days. Mr.Subba expressed that the Sikkim Taekwondo is aiming for Olympic medal in future, therefore we are giving exposure to the young upcomming taekwondo player to international arena.This competition and trainning will definetly uplift the technical efficiency,training systems of state Taekwondo after returning home.
President Shree Y.B.Thapa and all the members of SATA wishes them good luck.
11 kids hurt as car rams into school van

(Top) Injured Sanchita being taken to hospital; the student being treated by doctor. Pictures by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Alipurduar, Dec. 2: Eleven students of a kindergarten school were injured when the van-rickshaw in which they were going to school fell into a roadside ditch after being hit by a car this morning.

Five of the injured — Papai Sarkar, 8, Mantu Sohel Das, 4, Sanchita Das, 4, Srila, 3, and Ria Pandit, 5 — have been admitted to the Alipurduar subdivisional hospital. The rest were released after first aid.

The incident has revealed how school conveyance, often overloaded, plies without permits. It also points finger to the helplessness of the children and the parents. In Calcutta, frequent accidents involving pool cars in recent times forced the government to launch a crackdown on such vehicles last month.

Around 10.30am, the students of Sister Nivedita Kindergarten and Primary School at Aurobindanagar here were going to the institution in Dulal Roy’s van-rickshaw. A car, while trying to overtake the three-wheeler that was coming from Ghagra on the outskirts of the town, rammed into it from behind, pushing it off about 10ft below to a ditch.

Bishnu Kumar Karji, a high school teacher who was passing by the area, helped rescue the children. “The van-rickshaw was on the left side of the road. After the mishap, I broke the wooden frames and brought out the children. They were crying ‘Uncle, please save us. We cannot breathe properly’,” he said.

The teacher arranged an autorickshaw for the children and took them to hospital.
School principal Torsha Goswami said the institution would bear the medical expenses of the injured: “I have asked the doctor to do the necessary and we will bear all the expenses.”
Amlan Saha, the doctor who attended to the injured students in hospital, said the children suffered head injuries. “We have suggested head scan for three. One child was given four stitches on the head.” Alipurduar subdivisional police officer David Lepcha said a complaint was lodged by the guardians against the car driver. “He is missing. We are trying to track him".

CM ‘for Sikkimese’ raps Cong

TT Gangtok, Dec. 2: The chief minister has said the distribution of residential certificates to non-Sikkimese people staying in Sikkim since April 26, 1975, is meant to stem the influx of outsiders to the state and accused Opposition parties of misleading common people.
Pawan Chamling has come down heavily on his rivals at a time state Congress president Nar Bahadur Bhandari is carrying out a month-long campaign against the distribution of the RCs.
“The opposition parties in Sikkim are trying to mislead the common people that Sikkim subject certificate is being threatened by the RC. We will protect those holding the Sikkim subject certificates. At the same time, we want to do justice to old settlers through the RCs,” the chief minister told a gathering at Reshi Secondary School in West Sikkim on Tuesday.
Sikkim subject certificates were awarded to the people of the state during the reign of the Chogyals. People holding the certificates are considered “Sikkimese” and the documents are passed on to descendants. The Sikkim subject certificate holders enjoy certain privileges like exemption from the payment of income tax.
While attending the platinum jubilee celebration of Temi Senior Secondary School in South Sikkim yesterday, the chief minister accused the Opposition of indulging in the “politics of “lies”.
“The RC will not put the Sikkim subject certificate in danger. The RC is the main weapon to stop the influx of outsiders to Sikkim. We have kept the cut-off year as 1975 for the RC. How can this bring insecurity to Sikkim? The government has taken a correct decision in the interest of the original residents and old settlers,” said Chamling.
Launching his campaign to demand the withdrawal of the RCs at Pakyong bazaar in East Sikkim yesterday, Bhandari said: “We have come to the people to tell them that RCs are against the interest of the Sikkimese. If the people do not oppose it now, then their rights will be taken away by outsiders. We must join hands to force the state government to withdraw the RCs.”
“The SDF government wants to give RCs to outsiders because it wants to get votes from them in the next Assembly elections in 2014. The ruling Sikkim Democratic Front has understood that it will not get votes from the real Sikkimese,” said Bhandari.The Congress had announced that it would organise a meeting at Namthang in South Sikkim today as part of the campaign. But the programme could not be held as authorities refused to grant permission to the party to use the public address system.
Meetings have been planned at Rhenock, Singtam and Rongli in East district, Geyzing and Soreng in West Sikkim and Jorethang in South Sikkim before the campaign ends in Gangtok on December 26.

Lady cop held for ATM cash theft

Anima (face covered) being taken to court in Malda on Thursday. (Surajit Roy)

TT, Malda, Dec. 2: A 35-year-old lady constable and her male companion were arrested today for allegedly withdrawing Rs 10,000 from her colleague’s salary account after stealing the ATM card and password.
Anima Oraon, posted at the Samsi outpost of the Ratua police station, was picked up from the police lines here this morning. Her boyfriend, Madhu Debnath, is a contractual employee with the North Bengal State Transport
Corporation’s depot here.Malda police chief Bhuban Mondal said the constable had committed a serious crime and she has been placed under suspension. Anima and Madhu were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
According to police, Anima had come to Malda on Monday from Samsi to withdraw her salary and had put up at the barracks meant for lady constables at Mokdampur. She had shared the barracks with another lady constable, Kabita Das.
“The two knew each other well and used the beds which were alongside. Kabita had kept her ATM card under the pillow and the password was written in a small notebook kept near the bed. Anima memorised the password and took the card out of the barracks on Tuesday morning. She handed over the card to her boyfriend Debnath and asked him to withdraw cash quickly. After the money had been withdrawn, Anima kept the card back under the pillow,” said an investigating officer.
The officer said Anima had taken advantage of the fact that Kabita had left for duty in the morning. The ATM counter of a private bank, from where the money had been withdrawn, is barely a five-minute walk from the barracks.
When Kabita went to the same ATM counter to withdraw cash yesterday, she found that there was Rs 10,000 less in her salary account. The policewoman went to the bank where she was told that Rs 10,000 had been withdrawn the previous day.
She lodged a complaint with the Englishbazar police about the missing cash and a probe was started.
“We contacted the bank and went through the CCTV footage at the ATM counter. We could see Debnath withdrawing the cash from the ATM machine around 11am yesterday. Anima was seen peeping into the counter. We arrested the two today,” said the investigative officer.
Salary accounts were opened with the private bank for police personnel in Malda district in September.The police said the monthly salary of a constable started from Rs 13,000.

No early poll 

TNN, KOLKATA: Vinod Zutshi, deputy election commissioner, on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of early assembly polls in Bengal, saying preparations for holding elections "require time".
Moreover, he said the issue had already been clarified by chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi during his previous visit. Quraishi, during his visit to Kolkata earlier this year, had stated that according to rules, the election process could not start before December 11.
While Quraishi's observation was made four months ago, Zutshi added, "I have nothing to say on this, except that the full bench can only decide on the matter. The Election Commission has made its position clear on this; the rules and regulations of the EC have also been made abundantly clear".
Zutshi's comments are significant under the backdrop of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee repeatedly hinting that Bengal should be prepared for early polls.
Mentioning that there were many speculations about the poll date, Zutshi refused to talk any more on the subject. During the day, he met 12 district magistrates, a day after meeting political parties here.
Extensive work on the 2011 census is scheduled in the state between February 9 and 25, where district magistrates have major roles to play. Moreover, checking of electronic voting machines (EVMs) will require a month this time, thanks to a decision taken recently. Board examinations are scheduled in the state after that.
It is learnt that Zutshi took details of these schedules as well as the timings of sunrise and sunset in the coming months. The official preparation for the assembly elections of 2011, however, started through Wednesday's meeting.
The full bench of the EC will be in the state later this month to discuss details of the electoral rolls, other rules and regulations and for supervision of the overall election process.
Final electoral rolls for the assembly elections would be published on January 5.
According to Zutshi, political parties had alleged that false voters were being included in the electoral rolls providing fake ID cards and other documents. In this connection, 87 FIRs have been filed against 290 persons, and strict action would be taken against them. On Tuesday, the issue had come up for discussion during the meetings with political parties.