Bolt from blue: Malda DM Jayaraman laughs at Kumar remark

Malda, Dec. 2: Malda district magistrate G. Kiran Kumar today said his arrest on Saturday in connection with the alleged funds misuse in the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority was like a “bolt from the blue”.

“I had never imagined I would be arrested. I had gone to Siliguri to co-operate with the police. It was around 3.30pm on Saturday that Siliguri police commissioner K. Jayaraman suddenly told me that I was being arrested. Jayaraman said he had no other option but to arrest me because outside the office, the DYFI was demonstrating,” Kumar said.

“At first, I thought the police commissioner was joking. However, around 4pm, I was told that I was being taken to court to be produced as I was being arrested. It was like a bolt from the blue,” Kumar said. “I cannot fathom why I was arrested. I was not trying to run.”

In Calcutta, when Jayaraman, now on compulsory waiting, was asked about the district magistrate’s comment on his arrest, he laughed and refused to say anything.

The officer was at Nabanna to meet senior government officials.

District magistrate Kumar, who was granted bail by the assistant chief judicial magistrate’s court in Siliguri on Sunday, arrived at his residence in Malda around 3.30am last night. He left in a car at 5am for Calcutta with his wife and daughter.

He has proceeded on a 15-day leave and is scheduled to go to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, from where he hails. Additional district magistrate Nilkamal Biswas has taken charge as the acting district magistrate.

Kumar said he had gone to the Siliguri police commissionerate on Saturday to “cooperate with the investigations” in the SJDA case.

The district magistrate said the past two days had been a harrowing experience for him.

“I would be unable to talk at length. The past two days’ experience has made me ill. I had applied for leave and it has been sanctioned for 15 days. I am going home to Hyderabad. I have not gone home for the past six months,” Kumar said.

Kumar was the SJDA chief executive officer from 2011 to 2013 when funds to the tune of Rs 80 crore were allegedly misused.

The court on Saturday remanded him in four days’ police custody against the police’s plea for a 10-day remand. But on Sunday, the police said he was not required in custody.

The 38-year-old IAS officer said reports that he had misbehaved with investigators were incorrect.

“There have been some media reports that I had challenged the police commissioner. That is totally untrue. I had asked the police officers in a light-hearted manner if my arrest was absolutely necessary. I had asked the police commissioner was it necessary to arrest me just because the DYFI was baying for my blood outside? Was I not co-operating?” Kumar said.

He added: “I had answered every call and visited Siliguri. I had even co-operated with the policemen who came to question me in Malda. The police commissioner did not answer these questions and dispatched me to court in a police vehicle.”

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Rs 2 lakh grant for spouse of disabled - One-time grant by Sikkim govt

Gangtok, Dec. 2: Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling today announced a one-time government grant of Rs 2 lakh to those who marry a physically-challenged person in the state.

Sources in the state social welfare department said the modalities of the scheme are yet to be worked out.

“I today announce a one-time grant of Rs 2 lakh for those who will willingly marry a physically-challenged person. The work on this will commence soon and will be implemented in the state…. The physically challenged persons have an equal right to live a dignified life like other normal people,” Chamling told a workshop on disabilities at the auditorium of Tashi Namgyal Academy here today.

The event today was organised by two NGOs working for disabled people — the National Trust of India and the Spastic Society of Sikkim — a day before the International Day of People with Disability.

Asked about the criteria one had to fulfil to avail himself or herself of the grant, a senior government official said: “The chief minister made the announcement today and the work on finalising the scheme will start soon. It would be too early to comment. The physically-challenged people enjoy other benefits also under different welfare schemes of the state government.”

Draupadi Ghimirey, the founder of Sikkim Viklang Sahitya Samity in Gangtok, said the step would ensure financial security for the people with physical disabilities.

“This is one of the unique steps of the state government to encourage the disabled people. The couple can live a healthy and happy life and can have a secured future,” she said.

The chief minister announced a hike of 25 per cent in the annual government grants given to social organisations, which work for the welfare and betterment of the physically-challenged children.

Chamling also said there would be an increase of 25 per cent in scholarships given to disabled students.

The sources said at present, the government doled out a monthly grant of Rs 700 for each disabled student.

“The state has also decided to build special ramps for disabled people in all government offices and buildings. We have already reserved three per cent of government jobs for the physically challenged people,” said Chamling.

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Tourist dies after falling from hotel window

Darjeeling, Dec. 2: A tourist staying at a Chowrastha hotel fell off a grille-less window of his room while admiring the view last evening and landed on an iron gate with spikes that pierced his head, killing him on the spot.

Sobhan Goswami, a 43-year-old businessman from Bharat Nagar in Siliguri, is suspected to have fallen on the tin roof of a structure before hitting the iron gate on the boundary wall of a plot adjacent to the hotel.

Sobhan arrived here yesterday along with his brother-in-law Susapan Adhikary for a day-long trip.

“We had thought of leaving Darjeeling around 5pm yesterday but then my brother-in-law (Sobhan) decided to stay back for the night,” said Adhikary, also from Siliguri.

The duo checked in at Hotel Chalet in Chowrastha around 1.30pm and the room rent was Rs 700 for a night, hotel sources said.

“In the evening, we took a stroll around Chowrastha and returned to the hotel around 8.30pm. I was in my bed when he (Sobhan) called me to tell me that the view from our room was stunning. I got up from the bed to see the landscape. I had only taken two steps towards the window when I saw him losing balance and he fell off the window,” Adhikary said.

All nine rooms in the hotel have large bay windows without any grille.

The hotel is located on the top floor of a building that has a bookstore on the ground floor. From Chowrastha, two rooms on the first floor of the hotel can be seen.

On the northern side, the hotel has three floors. A two-storeyed structure with a tin roof was attached to the hotel building later.

Sources said Sobhan fell from a height of around 50ft.

A dent on the attached structure’s tin roof below the window suggests that Sobhan fell on it, bounced off and landed on the iron gate with spikes.

Police sources said Sobhan was drunk.

“It seems that the deceased had brandy during the day. We have found a bottle of brandy in the hotel room that was almost empty. According to our initial investigation, his brother-in-law was not drinking,” said a police officer.

The police have seized the bottle and a case of unnatural death has been registered.

“Had there been a grille, nothing would have happened. The hotel needs to put it up for the safety of people,” Adhikary said.

The hotel employees said they would put grilles in the windows immediately. “The hotel, which has been functional since the 1980s, has never reported such an accident,” said an employee.

Only two were occupied yesterday.

“The deceased person was very friendly and it seemed that he enjoyed the band performances at Chowrastha,” he added. Local bands performed at Chowrastha yesterday afternoon on World AIDS Day.

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Now, Bhutia community ups ante for development board

PRADIP LOHAGUN

KALIMPONG

2 Dec 2013

After the Lepcha community of the Darjeeling hills got a development council, the Tamangs and Bhutias have tabled demands for similar setups for safeguarding and developing their respective communities. The recently-formed Bharatiya Bhutia Association, claiming the Bhutias and Lepchas as the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills, today submitted an eight-point deputation to Kalimpong SDO Radhika Aiyer under the stewardship of association president Dr. Dhendup Bhutia and secretary Dr. Latshering Bhutia.

The Bhutias’ deputation states the community has remained socially, linguistically and culturally deprived even after 65 years of independence. Community leaders claimed they have met state government officials several times demanding a development board for the community.

They expressed dissatisfaction with the state government for ignoring the Bhutias while creating the LDC for the Lepchas. Speaking to media personnel today, Dhendup Bhutia said, “Lepchas and Bhutias are the original inhabitants of the Darjeeling hills. How can the Bhutias be left out while the Lepchas get their LDC? There are more than 2 lakh Bhutias in Darjeeling and we have met the prime minister and President with our demand. We have already talked with CM Mamata Banerjee and North Bengal Development minister Gautam Deb and are awaiting their response.”

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