Crocodile strays into West Bengal town in dead of night, rescued
Burdwan (WB) (PTI): A crocodile strayed into a town in West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district in the dead of the night, triggering panic in the area, officials said on Tuesday.
The incident happened in Palpara of Kalna town. The crocodile entered the area around 1 am from the nearby Bhagirathi river, they said.
The people of the area, panicked by the situation, spent a sleepless night with the crocodile going from one lane to the other.
"We haven't seen any such thing in our lives. We were awake the entire night," said Subhash Mondal, a local.
The crocodile was rescued by personnel of the Forest Department around 8 am, officials said, adding that it will be released into the river.
"It is suspected that the rise in the water level of the river may have led to this incident. It is also possible that the crocodile entered the locality while chasing a prey," said divisional forest officer Nisha Goswami.
#Shocking video: Crocodile seen crawling on the streets of Kalna, East Burdwan district of #WestBengal. On receiving information, forest officials safely evacuated the crocodile from the residential area @ZeeNews pic.twitter.com/N3JpIzPsTb
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) October 10, 2023
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Mamata visits Bhabanipur EVM strong room, warns against counting irregularities
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee early Friday warned against any attempt to tamper with the counting process, hours after she visited an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur, alleging possible malpractice.
Banerjee, who emerged around 12:07 am after spending nearly four hours at the counting centre for her Bhabanipur constituency housed in Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata, said only one person would be allowed inside the designated counting area.
"Either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs. I have also suggested installation of a CCTV camera for the media," she told reporters.
Stressing the need for transparency, she said, "It is essential to maintain transparency. People’s votes must be protected. I rushed here after receiving complaints. The central forces initially did not allow me to enter."
Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she added, "If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated."
On Thursday evening, Banerjee had reached the Bhabanipur Assembly segment counting centre, which houses the strong room for EVMs used in the April 29 polling, citing suspicion of tampering with the machines.
She entered the premises along with her election agent and remained inside for hours, even as Kolkata Mayor and TMC candidate from the Kolkata Port segment Firhad Hakim reached the spot but could not meet her.
"I reached here upon learning that the chief minister has arrived. But I couldn’t meet her since she was already inside the premises, exercising her right as a candidate to visit strong rooms. I wasn’t allowed there. I will not be able to confirm what exactly is transpiring inside," Hakim said.
The development coincided with protests by TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in north Kolkata, where they staged a sit-in alleging irregularities and possible tampering of EVMs stored in strong rooms, leading to face-offs between TMC and BJP supporters.
Earlier in a video message, Banerjee had urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil on EVM strong rooms, alleging that the BJP could attempt to tamper with the machines before counting begins.
Her remarks come amid heightened political tension in the state following a fiercely contested Assembly election, with parties closely monitoring arrangements and raising concerns over transparency.
