Crime

Malda: The death of a 77-year-old woman led to an unrest in a Raiganj village on Monday. It all started when electoral officers, out to collect elderly citizens’ votes, visited the house of 85-year-old Kalu Sheikh in Viti Katihar village.A 77-year-old woman, Tafijan Bibi, died after collapsing during a confrontation over home voting in Raiganj on Monday.As the Election Commission team including a returning officer, a BLO, security personnel and central forces, reached the home of Sheikh, his family demanded that his daughter Jahida, a person with disabilities, be allowed to stay in the room, especially because Sheikh was blind. When the EC team allegedly refused, an argument started which soon heated up as villagers and TMC workers gathered at the site.

A massive fire broke out in the Raiganj area of Gorakhpur, causing panic among local residents and traders after several roadside and market shops were completely gutted in the blaze. According to eyewitnesses, the fire spread rapidly through closely packed shops, destroying goods, furniture, electrical items, and daily business materials within minutes. Thick black smoke covered the entire market area as shopkeepers and locals rushed to rescue whatever they could. Multiple fire tenders from the Uttar Pradesh Fire and Emergency Services reached the spot and launched an extensive firefighting operation to control the flames. Officials stated that the fire was brought under control after several hours of effort. Preliminary reports suggest that a possible short circuit may have triggered the incident, though the exact cause is still under investigation. Fortunately, no major casualties were reported, but property worth lakhs of rupees is believed to have been destroyed.

An inspector of the Border Security Force (BSF) posted at the Bangladesh border in South Dinajpur allegedly killed himself by firing multiple rounds from his automatic service rifle on Tuesday night. The deceased, Rajesh Kumar, 58, was a resident of Uttar Pradesh, posted in the 29th battalion of BSF. He had been stationed at the Gupinagar border outpost in Balurghat block.

Nabendu Ghosh, vice president of the local TMC youth wing, was found injured on a road near his home around 12:30 am. Police said he was declared dead on arrival at the Raiganj hospital. A police officer said two men, identified as Pintu Saha and Subham Pal, were arrested for the murder after scrutiny of CCTV camera footage in the area. They were produced before a Raiganj court on Thursday afternoon and remanded in police custody for a week. Nabendu Ghosh’s family told the police that he had been out at an open-air party outside a market near his home. He briefly returned home to greet his family at midnight before realising he had misplaced his phone. “He came home to wish us and said he had left his mobile phone, which costs around ₹1.5 lakh. He went back to get it,” Pranab Kumar Ghosh, the victim’s father, told the local media.