Sporadic violence, clashes mar Bengal rural polls
Kolkata, May 14 : Sporadic violence and clashes between opposing political groups marred the initial hours of West Bengal panchayat polls on Monday.
The polling for electing 38,616 representatives across three tiers of state (rural) bodies started at 7 a.m. and would continue till 5 p.m.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), 12.2 per cent votes were cast in the initial two hours of polling till 9 a.m.
Reports of clashes and booth capturing were received from pockets of South 24 Parganas, West Midnapore and Cooch Behar districts.
In South 24 Parnagas' Bhangar the 'Jomi, Jibika, Bastutantra O Poribesh Raksha Committee' accused armed miscreants of Trinamool Congress of kidnapping their Panchayat Samiti candidate Sariful Mullick and terrorising the voters.
The committee that was formed to protect land, livelihood, ecology and environment has been spearheading an anti-power grid movement in the area and has fielded nine independent candidate in the rural polls.
The committee also accused the police of not taking action against the miscreants involved in casting false votes and backing the men of Trinamool Congress leader Arabul Islam, who was arrested three days back in an alleged case of murder.
Clashes were also reported in the district's Namkhana and several other areas.
In north Bengal's Jalpaiguri, Minister in-charge of north Bengal development, Rabindranath Ghosh, was accused of slapping a Bharatiya Janata Party polling agent and forcing him out of the polling premises.
The SEC sought a report from the Jalpaiguri District Magistrate regarding the incident. The Minister, however, denied all allegations.
Incidents of violence took place in East Midnapore district's Panskura and West Midnapore district's Keshpur where gun totting miscreants gathered outside the polling stations and beat up the voters.
The dates of state rural polls were initially declared on May 1, 3 and 5 but as the nomination process started in April, all the opposition parties accused the Trinamool of indulging in strongarm tactics to prevent them from filing nominations.
The matter reached the Calcutta High Court, that subsequently stayed the polling process and asked the SEC to extend nomination deadline and announce fresh election schedule.
More bitter legal battles followed, at the end of which the SEC declared May 14 as the new polling date.
Statistics reveal that of the total 58,692 seats in the three tiers of rural local bodies, 20,076 seats or 34.2 per cent have already been decided uncontested, with the Trinamool bagging a whopping proportion of these seats.
These seats include 16,814 of the total 48,650 in gram panchayats, 3,059 of the total 9,217 in panchayat samitis and 203 of the total 825 in zila parishads.The Supreme Court has now asked the SEC not to issue winning certificates in case of the uncontested seats.
The SEC has, on the other hand, said all arrangements had been made for providing security for the polls. Around 71,500 armed personnel were on duty, manning every booth.
Armed forces have also arrived from Assam, Odisha, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh to strengthen security arrangements.
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11 Indian nationals charged in US over visa fraud
New York (PTI): Eleven Indian nationals, living illegally in the US, have been charged with visa fraud for conspiring to carry out staged armed robberies of convenience shops, according to US federal prosecutors.
Authorities said the suspects are accused of organising fake robberies for the purpose of allowing the store clerks to falsely claim they were crime victims on immigration applications towards getting a Green Card.
Jitendrakumar Patel, 39, Maheshkumar Patel, 36, Sanjaykumar Patel, 45, Dipikaben Patel, 40, Rameshbhai Patel, 52, Amitabahen Patel, 43, Ronakkumar Patel, 28, Sangitaben Patel, 36, Minkesh Patel, 42, Sonal Patel, 42 and Mitul Patel, 40 have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
They all were living unlawfully in various US states such as Massachusetts, Kentucky and Ohio.
Dipikaben was deported to India after unlawfully residing in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Jitendrakumar, Maheshkumar, Sanjaykumar, Amitabahen, Sangitaben and Mitul were arrested in Massachusetts and released following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday.
Rameshbhai, Ronakkumar, Sonal and Minkesh were arrested and made their initial appearances in Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio. They will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
According to the charging documents, in March 2023, Rambhai and his co-conspirators set up and carried out staged armed robberies of at least six convenience/liquor stores and fast food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
It is alleged that the purpose of the staged robberies was to allow the clerks present to falsely claim that they were victims of a violent crime on an application for a U non-immigration status (U Visa).
A U Visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and who have been helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. The U visa offers an immigrant work authorisation and a path to a Green Card within 5–10 years.
Authorities said that in the course of the alleged staged robberies, the “robber” would threaten store clerks or the owners with an apparent firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing, while the interaction was captured on store surveillance video.
The clerks or the store owners would then wait five or more minutes until the “robber” had escaped before calling the police to report the “crime.”
The “victims” are alleged to have each paid Rambhai to participate in the scheme. In turn, Rambhai allegedly paid the store owners for the use of their stores for the staged robbery.
Rambhai, the “robber,” and the getaway driver were previously charged and convicted.
The 11 defendants charged on Friday are alleged to have either arranged with the organiser to set up each robbery, or paid for themselves or a family member to participate as a “victim.”
The charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of USD 250,000.
