Feb. 28: Nearly 35 vehicles, mostly NBSTC buses, were pelted with stones and damaged in north Bengal unlike in the south where no vehicles were targeted by the supporters of the general strike today.But like in the rest of the state, attendance in government offices was anything between 70 and 90 per cent, the administration claimed. In Balurghat, the lock on the civic office was broken on the instructions of the South Dinajpur district magistrate after some employees complained to him that they were unable to attend office.The chairperson of the NBSTC and Trinamul MLA from Natabari, Rabindra Ghosh, said 24 buses were damaged in stone-throwing by strike supporters. Of them, nine buses were damaged in Cooch Behar, seven in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj, six in Jalpaiguri and two in Malda.“We are yet to assess the loss but seven of our drivers and conductors have been injured in the attacks,” Ghosh said from the NBSTC headquarters in Cooch Behar.The strike supporters also damaged a private car in Jalpaiguri, four trucks in Balurghat and five in Malda, police sources said.Jalpaiguri police said Piyali Saha, the passenger of a NBSTC bus bound for Cooch Behar, was injured by broken glass when supporters of the strike pelted the vehicle with stones. She was treated at the district hospital in Jalpaiguri and released.The conductor of a Siliguri-bound bus from Jalpaiguri, Dipak Roy, was also injured on the head and face after being hit by shards of glass and had been admitted to the district hospital, the police said.North Dinajpur district magistrate P.N. Bhutia said the average attendance in government offices was 95 per cent.Trinamul leaders said more policemen should have been deployed in rural areas. “Like in Calcutta and in other areas of south Bengal, more security forces should have been posted on the outskirts of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri,” said a Trinamul leader in Siliguri.“Vehicles are always a soft target. Perpetrators have to just hurl a stone that can crack a windscreen and run away. But it is difficult to, say for example, shut down an office,” he added.The Trinamul leader also admitted that the party had to strengthen its base in rural areas. “Except for Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur, we don’t have much presence in the villages,” he said.In Malda, former civil defence minister, the CPI’s Srikumar Mukherjee, was heckled by anti-strike supporters.The bandh breakers first dragged out postmaster Amit Lahiri from his quarters above the main post-office in town and asked him to open the rooms. The postmaster claimed that he did not have the keys to the post office.“I was unnecessarily heckled, the keys to the rooms are with other officials. I have not lodged any police complaint but I will inform my higher-ups in the postal department about today’s incident,” Lahiri said. The mob broke the lock on the collapsible gate. But by 11.30am, some postal employees arrived and opened the office.The same mob of alleged Trinamul and Congress workers surrounded minister Mukherjee and chanted “go back” when he stooped to talk to journalists in front of the post-office.“The police were silent while I was pushed around and abused verbally. This has never happened in Malda,” Mukherjee said.Malda police chief Jayanta Pal said he had heard about the former minister being heckled. “But we are yet to receive any complaint. We have arrested 570 people for trying to enforce the bandh and for stoning a bus,” Pal said.The district secretary of the CPM, Ambar Mitra, said it was a shame that the administration allowed the Congress and Trinamul supporters to break the lock of the post-office.Minister and Malda district Trinamul president Sabitri Mitra refused comment on the incident. “The people have rejected the bandh and attendance in government offices was normal,” she said.In an effort to enforce instructions from Writers’, the South Dinajpur district administration broke open the lock of the RSP-led Balurghat municipality.The executive officer of the municipality, Amiya Kumar Bhattacharya, and about four others, arrived at the civic office around 10.30am and found the main collapsible gate locked.Bhattacharya said he tried to contact the RSP chairperson, Sucheta Biswas, but her cellphone was switched off. “Around 1pm, I informed district magistrate Durgadas Goswami that we were unable to enter our office,” Bhattacharya said.The district magistrate sent the regional transport officer, Indrajit Talukdar, to oversee while the staff broke the lock.“The chief secretary had instructed that all offices should remain open. When I came to know that the staff were waiting outside the shut office, I ordered the lock to be broken as we were not able to contact the chairperson,” Goswami said.Civic chairperson Biswas described the action as “autocratic and unprecedented”.“It was shocking to see that the administration went all out to defeat the strike. The locks were broken with the assistance of Trinamul cadres. If any file or important document goes missing, who will bear the responsibility,” she said.Biswas said any government office with less than one-third attendance could be shut down. “Almost all the employees decided to stay away and that is why the office was shut.” Asked about the chairperson’s claim, the district magistrate said he was “not aware of any such rule”.(telegrap)
29 Feb 2012
How north differs: 35 vehicles damaged DM orders civic lock to be broken
Feb. 28: Nearly 35 vehicles, mostly NBSTC buses, were pelted with stones and damaged in north Bengal unlike in the south where no vehicles were targeted by the supporters of the general strike today.But like in the rest of the state, attendance in government offices was anything between 70 and 90 per cent, the administration claimed. In Balurghat, the lock on the civic office was broken on the instructions of the South Dinajpur district magistrate after some employees complained to him that they were unable to attend office.The chairperson of the NBSTC and Trinamul MLA from Natabari, Rabindra Ghosh, said 24 buses were damaged in stone-throwing by strike supporters. Of them, nine buses were damaged in Cooch Behar, seven in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj, six in Jalpaiguri and two in Malda.“We are yet to assess the loss but seven of our drivers and conductors have been injured in the attacks,” Ghosh said from the NBSTC headquarters in Cooch Behar.The strike supporters also damaged a private car in Jalpaiguri, four trucks in Balurghat and five in Malda, police sources said.Jalpaiguri police said Piyali Saha, the passenger of a NBSTC bus bound for Cooch Behar, was injured by broken glass when supporters of the strike pelted the vehicle with stones. She was treated at the district hospital in Jalpaiguri and released.The conductor of a Siliguri-bound bus from Jalpaiguri, Dipak Roy, was also injured on the head and face after being hit by shards of glass and had been admitted to the district hospital, the police said.North Dinajpur district magistrate P.N. Bhutia said the average attendance in government offices was 95 per cent.Trinamul leaders said more policemen should have been deployed in rural areas. “Like in Calcutta and in other areas of south Bengal, more security forces should have been posted on the outskirts of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri,” said a Trinamul leader in Siliguri.“Vehicles are always a soft target. Perpetrators have to just hurl a stone that can crack a windscreen and run away. But it is difficult to, say for example, shut down an office,” he added.The Trinamul leader also admitted that the party had to strengthen its base in rural areas. “Except for Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur, we don’t have much presence in the villages,” he said.In Malda, former civil defence minister, the CPI’s Srikumar Mukherjee, was heckled by anti-strike supporters.The bandh breakers first dragged out postmaster Amit Lahiri from his quarters above the main post-office in town and asked him to open the rooms. The postmaster claimed that he did not have the keys to the post office.“I was unnecessarily heckled, the keys to the rooms are with other officials. I have not lodged any police complaint but I will inform my higher-ups in the postal department about today’s incident,” Lahiri said. The mob broke the lock on the collapsible gate. But by 11.30am, some postal employees arrived and opened the office.The same mob of alleged Trinamul and Congress workers surrounded minister Mukherjee and chanted “go back” when he stooped to talk to journalists in front of the post-office.“The police were silent while I was pushed around and abused verbally. This has never happened in Malda,” Mukherjee said.Malda police chief Jayanta Pal said he had heard about the former minister being heckled. “But we are yet to receive any complaint. We have arrested 570 people for trying to enforce the bandh and for stoning a bus,” Pal said.The district secretary of the CPM, Ambar Mitra, said it was a shame that the administration allowed the Congress and Trinamul supporters to break the lock of the post-office.Minister and Malda district Trinamul president Sabitri Mitra refused comment on the incident. “The people have rejected the bandh and attendance in government offices was normal,” she said.In an effort to enforce instructions from Writers’, the South Dinajpur district administration broke open the lock of the RSP-led Balurghat municipality.The executive officer of the municipality, Amiya Kumar Bhattacharya, and about four others, arrived at the civic office around 10.30am and found the main collapsible gate locked.Bhattacharya said he tried to contact the RSP chairperson, Sucheta Biswas, but her cellphone was switched off. “Around 1pm, I informed district magistrate Durgadas Goswami that we were unable to enter our office,” Bhattacharya said.The district magistrate sent the regional transport officer, Indrajit Talukdar, to oversee while the staff broke the lock.“The chief secretary had instructed that all offices should remain open. When I came to know that the staff were waiting outside the shut office, I ordered the lock to be broken as we were not able to contact the chairperson,” Goswami said.Civic chairperson Biswas described the action as “autocratic and unprecedented”.“It was shocking to see that the administration went all out to defeat the strike. The locks were broken with the assistance of Trinamul cadres. If any file or important document goes missing, who will bear the responsibility,” she said.Biswas said any government office with less than one-third attendance could be shut down. “Almost all the employees decided to stay away and that is why the office was shut.” Asked about the chairperson’s claim, the district magistrate said he was “not aware of any such rule”.(telegrap)
0 comments:
Post a Comment