Bengal polls: Bhangar tense after killing of Independent candidate's supporter
Kolkata, May 12: The situation in West Bengal's Bhangar on Saturday remained tense ahead of May 14 panchayat election across the state, after a supporter of an Independent candidate for the rural polls was killed on Friday.
The police arrested local strongman of the ruling Trinamool Congress Arabul Islam on Friday late night and he was charged for attempting murder.
"Islam was produced before a district court on Saturday and he was remanded to police custody till May 22," the police said.
Soon after the death of the supporter, Hafizul Molla (26), hundreds of villagers in Bhangar started protesting demanding action against Arabul Islam and his aides. Agitators on Saturday vandalised house of an Islam's aide and set on fire many houses, though police said the situation was "under control".
In fact, stocks of crude bombs were spotted from a garden adjacent to the house of arrested Trinamool leader, villagers said.
Molla, a resident of Bhangar's Machibhanga in South 24 Parganas district, died on Friday after an armed attack on a political rally brought out by the "Jomi, Jibika, Bastutantra O Poribesh Raksha Committee" (committee to protect land, livelihood, ecology and environment), which has been leading a movement against the construction of a power grid sub-station in the area.
On Saturday, the committee members took out a rally in Central Kolkata in protest against the murder. Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) State Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra, along with several other Left Front leaders, took part in the rally.
Mishra held Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee responsible for the murder. State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Dilip Ghosh described Islam's arrest as an "eyewash". Bhangar has been on the boil for over a year now on the issue of construction of the sub-station.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
