A day after the state government unilaterally announced the dates of the panchayat elections, it suggested that the state election commission was bound to accept its decision even as the Opposition parties cried foul.

A Trinamul Congress activist was murdered in Nadia late on Friday night allegedly by rival faction of his own party.
Prahalad Roy, 30, was the head of the Trinamul Yuva in Silinda gram panchayat in Nadia’s Chakdah and his name was being considered as a candidate for the coming panchayat election.

The officer in charge (OC) of the Pragati Maidan police station, Indraneel Chaudhuri, was made a scapegoat in the Dhapa death case and was removed from his post on Saturday. He has been sent to the traffic department at Lalbazar, the city police headquarters, as a punishment posting.

A Maoist squad member Govind Singh Sardar was arrested by in Bankura district in the early hours of Saturday.
He was produced in the Khatra sub-divisional court of Bankura. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided Govind’s house in Hizali village in Barikul police station area and arrested him.

An incident of theft was detected on Saturday at the central office of the Visvabharati University (VBU). The theft came as a surprise because the varsity has been maintaining a high level of security after the Nobel medallion theft incident.

The Left Front on Thursday tabled an adjournment motion in the Assembly against the Mamata Banerjee government on deteriorating law and order and some other issues. Leader of Opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra moved the motion which was accepted by Speaker Biman Banerjee.

In a tragic incident, a 45-year-old man died in a road accident while returning home after cremating his elder brother on Thursday. The accident took place near Berhampore Ramendra Sundar Bridge on National Highway 34.
Earlier in the day, Ajit Ganguly, 53, the Congress gram panchayat pradhan of Margram village in Khargram police station area died of cancer. After paying their last respects, his family members, relatives and younger brother Netai Ganguly carried the dead body in a lorry to the cremation ghat.

In a bid to realise chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s dream to take health services to the remotest corners of the state, the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed the State Health Service Amendment Bill, 2013, aimed to provide incentives to MBBS doctors assigned in remote areas of the state. The bill was tabled by minister of state for health Chandrima Bhattacharya in the Assembly and was passed by voice vote.

Keeping a hawk’s eye on the upcoming panchayat elections, three bills were passed in the state Assembly on Thursday.

In a damage control exercise, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday evening went to the house of Trinamul Congress worker Adhir Maity. Ms Banerjee paid condolences to the widow of the deceased partyman and handed over a cheque of `2 lakh as compensation. She consoled Maity’s three daughters who complained about local councillor Shambhunath Kow’s atrocities. The chief minister assured them that Kow would be arrested and strong action would be taken against him.