West Bengal

The advertisement "Transforming Uttar Pradesh Under Yogi Adityanath" carried on Sunday in an English language publication has a cut-out of Mr Adityanath with a flyover that resembles Kolkata's "Maa flyover" that connects the central part of the city with Salt Lake and Rajarhat located in the northeastern fringes of the city. The image also has Kolkata's iconic yellow taxi and a high rise that resembles a five-star hotel in the city next to the Maa Flyover.

Sarkar was allegedly killed in the post-poll violence that broke out in West Bengal after the declaration of Assembly election results on May 2. Sarkar's body was preserved at the NRS Medical College and Hospital here for the purpose of investigation. It was handed over to his family following directions from the court. The court had earlier ordered a DNA test on the body since Sarkar's family could not identify it.

The state Home Department has been asked to submit a detailed report in the matter. Though the state government, which has already sent its reply to the poll panel, is tight-lipped, senior officials are of the opinion that the state government has not violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Highly-placed sources in the Home Department said that the announcement was made by the Chief Secretary, and not Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is contesting the bypolls from the Bhowanipur Assembly constituency in Kolkata.

It was on Monday night that the crime in Parnasree was discovered. The Detective Department has detained the husband of the woman and his interrogation is underway. According to the police, the body of Sushmita Mondal was found in a pool of blood in her master bedroom with her throat slit. Her son Tamajit was found dead in a similar manner but his body was in a sitting position

The elections in Samsergunj and Jangipur were withheld because of the death of the candidates before polls during the recently concluded assembly election in West Bengal. On the other hand, a bye-election in Bhabanipur assembly constituency is scheduled because the existing MLA Sovondeb Chattopadhyay resigned to make room for chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

The 10 officers include ADG South Bengal Siddh Nath Gupta, ADG Western Range Sanjoy Singh, IGP Bardhaman Range B L Meena, IGP North Bengal D P Singh, DIG, Railways Soma Das Mitra, DIG Malda Range Praveen Kumar Tripathy, DIG Barasat Range Prasun Bandopadhyay and DC Reserve Force Subhankar Bhattacharya.

The debate on social media took place after Dhankhar took to Twitter and said that ‘politicized police pose threat to democracy'. "On Police Day, I expect all in this uniform @WBPolice @KolkataPolice to uphold rule of law and act as ‘Human Rights Warriors'. A politicized police force poses threat to democracy & leads to a ‘police state'

According to the sources, four companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been deployed for providing security to the CBI teams probing the matter. Out of the four, two companies will be stationed at the CBI office in Kolkata, while the other two will be stationed in the districts affected by post-poll violence. Some of the CRPF personnel will accompany the investigating teams.

The development comes a day after the Calcutta High Court handed over the investigation of serious crimes such as rape and murder during the post-poll violence in Bemgal to the country's premiere investigating agency, dealing a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led government. The HC also formed a three-member team to investigate the lesser criminal offences.

A CBI source told IANS, "Four special investigation units have been constituted to probe the Bengal post-poll violence cases." The source said that there will be six members in each team and each unit will be headed by a joint director level officer. The source also said that the investigating officer will soon visit the state to initiate the probe.