Bengal Guv supervises situation in violence-hit Cooch Behar as fresh clashes reported
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose supervised the situation in poll violence-hit Cooch Behar district, where fresh overnight clashes were reported, officials said.
Five people were injured in the clashes that took place in Dinhata area on Saturday night.
A TMC candidate's kin was among those injured, police said.
Bose monitored the situation throughout the night from Cooch Behar circuit house, where he is staying, and issued instructions to State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha, SP and District Magistrate, officials said.
"The governor on Sunday morning visited a hospital in Dinhata where the five injured people are undergoing treatment and may also visit the spot where the clashes took place," a senior official of the Raj Bhavan told PTI over the phone.
The governor, in a statement, said that he interacted with the doctors, inquiring about the condition of the injured people, and consoled the family members, assuring them of all possible assistance.
He dialed the DM and SP of Cooch Behar and asked them to maintain law and order and arrest the culprits.
Bose, who is on a trip to the northern districts of the state, has visited families of deceased as well as those injured in incidents of violence in Dinhata.
The Raj Bhavan has opened a 'peace home' and a 24x7 phone number to address complaints of violence and intimidation. The matters are instantly taken up with the SEC or the chief secretary.
Around 5.67 crore people are eligible to cast their votes in the three-tier panchayat elections in the state on July 8 for nearly 74,000 seats in zilla parishads, panchayat samiti and gram panchayats.
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Trump rushed out of dinner event after shots fired; one arrested
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.
The incident took place at around 8:34 PM local time when dinner was served. At that time, Trump was seen having a conversation with Weijia Jiang, the President of the White House Correspondents' Association, and mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to present a show at the marquee event at the Washington Hilton here.
Secret Service officials and other security personnel covered the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance, and the Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table, and escorted them out of the ballroom.
Several guests at the dinner, including leaders across the political spectrum, journalists and other invitees, ducked under the table, apparently as a reflex reaction.
Putting up a brave face, President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom is all that I heard, and many guests ducked under the table,” a C-SPAN reporter at the dinner said.
Hours later, Trump addressed a press conference at the White House and announced that the security personnel had captured one person who hails from California.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times. It was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away. He (the attacker) hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him,” Trump told reporters, recalling the incident.
Trump said one security officer was shot at but saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several protestors had lined up on the road outside the hotel, raising slogans against the Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A CNN reporter who was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton said he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed the venue.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California.
Asked how Saturday’s incident impacts him as the US president, Trump told reporters he is in a dangerous job but that he is no “basket case.”
“I like not to think about it. I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I handle it as well as it can be handled,” Trump said.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts over the past two years – first at a presidential election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and later in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024.
“I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals, and progressives...everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd,” he said.
“We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
