GJM doubt Centre of foul play
KalimNews, Kalimpong, February 2: "Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is unaware of the fact that why the government is delaying in implementing the GTA agreement. The tripartite agreement made and proposed by the Centre and the state is being delayed and GJM is losing its patience", said Dr. Harka Bahadur Chhetri spokesperson of GJM and MLA of Kalimpong. Commenting on the delay in implementing GTA Chhetri said that we are very much unaware of the reason behind the delay.
Expressing his doubt Dr. Chhetri said "as the relation between the centre and the state is not congenial the delay may be due to it or it may be an attempt of centre to keep Mamata Banerjee CM of Bengal in an awkward situation".
27 March is the ultimatum given by Bimal Gurung GJM president for the implementation of GTA while yesterday's meeting of GJM central committee preponded the ultimatum to 22 March. The meeting has resolved that the GTA should be implemented by 23rd March. By this time GJM will sit together with its frontal and other organisations. It has also called a mass meeting on 17 April to declare its course of action and agitational movement.
Commenting on the statement made by GTF on the state reorganisation committee, Dr Chhetri said that the statement is illogical. He further said that GTF is a poster force but not a task force. Earlier R Moktan Coordinator of GTF had said that if SRC is not formed then the party supporting GTA will be responsible for it. Chhetri said that if SRC is formed ignoring the demand of Gorkhaland and the GJM President orders to resign then we will certainly resign". In another occasion Pratap Khati, ABGL General Secretary said that we should not wait for SRC and if possible we should continue to fight for Gorkhaland before the formation of SRC.
Meanwhile GTF has published a booklet on Gorkhaland .
PS Golay in Mirik
KalimNews, Kalimpong: PS Golay the rebel leader of SDF and MLA of Burtuk Sikkim arrived Mirik today to attend the 27th Conference of All India Tamang Bauddha Association in Mirik. In the programme Gautam Deb, North Bengal Development Minister and Prof. Mahendra P Lama Vice Chancellor of Sikkim University are also invited in the three days programme along with Golay. Arrival of Golay a day before the programme has warmed the political environment of Mirik.
Sikkim scraps two power plants on ‘holy’ river
BIJOY GURUNG, TT, Gangtok, Feb. 2: Two of the three hydroelectric projects on the Rathong Chu that were opposed by many organisations on religious and environment grounds have been scrapped by the Sikkim government.
The state, however, has not yet decided on the third project on the river in West Sikkim.
According to sources, on January 25, the cabinet decided to scrap the Ting Ting (99MW) and the Lethang (96MW) projects proposed over the Rathong Chu, a river considered sacred by the Buddhists in Sikkim.
The state, however, has not yet issued a formal notification.
The decision to scrap the projects comes a month after a high-powered committee constituted by the state government submitted its report. The panel was asked to examine if the Rathong Chu projects could be implemented.
“We will communicate the cabinet’s decision to the private power developers at Ting Ting and Lethang. The Tashiding project is under examination,” said an official of the state power department.
The Ting Ting project is in the initial stages of land acquisition and the project in Lethang was rejected by the National Board for Wildlife last year. Sources said the decision on “further examination” of the Tashiding project was taken as more than Rs 100 crore had already been invested and tunnelling work had started.
The high-powered committee has been asked to conduct another study on the project, sources said.
Eight organisations under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) have been opposing the projects on the Rathong Chu.
“The organisations have been campaigning in West Sikkim and consolidating public opinion. Although we are waiting for a formal announcement from the government on the scrapping of the Ting Ting and Lethang projects, we fail to understand why the Tashiding project was not scrapped,” JAC spokesperson Tenzing Chewang Bhutia said today.
“Since the September 18 earthquake, people in the Yangtey gram panchayat area are scared that tunneling work might trigger more tremors that will be a threat to their lives and properties,” said Tenzing. He said residents of Yangtey feared that the tunnel work would trigger landslides in the locality.
The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (Siblac) convener, Tseten Tashi Bhutia, said the Pawan Chamling government had scrapped a Rathong Chu project at Lethang in 1997 when it was in its advanced stages. The committee is a member of the JAC.
“An amount of Rs 33 crore had already been spent on the project and still Chamling had scrapped it because of the opposition from monks and local people. The expenditure (of Rs 100 crore) would not have been incurred had the state government accepted our demand to stall all the projects till the high power committee set up in November submitted its report,” said Tseten.
The JAC will organise a rally at Geyzing against the Rathong Chu projects on February 13.
Tourists sensitised on World Wetlands Day at Tsomgo
Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, Gangtok,2 Feb:The World Wetland Day celebrated each year on 2nd February, marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. The first wetland day was celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
The theme for this year was “Wetlands and Tourism”, and in keeping with this theme the Tsomgo Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti in collaboration with WWF-India, Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme celebrated the event in Tsomgo with an aim to sensitise the tourists. An exhibition of posters related to Tsomgo lake and its biodiversity and cultural values, threats and conservation measures was put on display for the tourists. Along with this, members of Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti also explained through posters all the activities that PSS had conducted over the years, and explained to the tourists how the Rs.10 that they had contributed as conservation fee was being utilised.
A “Wetlands Tour Quiz” that took tourists on a tour of the various wetlands in the state, while being quizzed about Sikkim and its environment was the highlight of the day. This gave participants a chance to know about the other wetlands of the state and understand their importance. Gifts of posters, book marks, postcards, stickers, badges, caps and t-shirts ensured tourists interest in the activities and at the same time learning about environment. On the occasion Landscape Coordinator Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme WWF – India Miss Priyadarshinee Shrestha and Miss Lak Tsheden Theengh,Sr.Project Officer(High altitude wetlands WWF-India ) also present .
The programme was also supported by Officials from Forest, Environment and Wildlife Management and Police Department and the local communities.
AMRI MD Mani Chettri granted interim bail
PTI, Kolkata, February 02, 2012: A city court on Thursday granted interim bail to renowned doctor Mani Chettri, arrested in connection with the fire at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata that claimed 93 lives.
Chettri, the managing director in whose name the hospital had the licence, was arrested on January 27 along with another doctor Pranab Dasgupta.
Chief judicial magistrate, Alipore, CH Karim granted interim bail to Chettri till February 16 on a bond of Rs 20,000 and directed him to submit his passport.
The court, however, extended police custody of Dasgupta, a director of the hospital, along with senior hospital officials Pritha Banerjee and Sajid Hossain, till February 6.
It also extended judicial custody of all the other directors arrested in connection with the case, where they have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Lawyers, appearing for 91-year-old Chettri, submitted that the doctor was ill and currently being treated at government-run SSKM hospital, and as such should be granted bail.
RS Agarwal, another arrested AMRI director, is also admitted to the same government hospital after he complained of illness.
While thirteen people have so far been arrested in connection with the case, three board members -- Aditya Agarwal, Preeti Surekha and Rahul Todi -- are absconding.
The licence of the hospital was cancelled on the day of the fire incident -- December 9.
Chhetri gets interim bail
TT: AMRI Hospitals managing director Mani Chhetri, 91, has been granted interim bail but Pronab Dasgupta, the other doctor-member of the board behind bars, will remain in police custody till February 6.
The judicial custody of directors S.K. Todi and D.N. Agarwal, lodged in Alipore Central jail, has been extended till February 16.
Three other directors — Manish Goenka, Prashant Goenka and Ravi Todi — moved the high court for bail on Wednesday. Two others, R.S. Goenka and R.S. Agarwal, had done so earlier.
The Alipore chief judicial magistrate, C.H. Karim, allowed bail till February 16 to Chhetri because of his health. The doctor has been in the intensive coronary care unit of SSKM Hospital since his arrest on January 27.
The bail has been granted against a surety of Rs 20,000 and with the condition that Chhetri could not leave Calcutta and would have to hand over his passport to the investigating officer.
Chhetri’s lawyer Samaraditya Pal said the 91-year-old doctor had been suffering from serious illnesses, which had been mentioned in the report submitted by SSKM Hospital. “In the past seven days, Chhetri had suffered internal haemorrhage, causing blood-clots in his hands. It may turn out to be fatal if the haemorrhage attacks his brain.”
Pal said the prosecution had wrongly claimed that Chhetri did not bother to visit the hospital the day the fire broke out. “He rushed to the spot around 5am, as soon as he came to know of the incident. He spoke to fire brigade officers and the director of medical education and told them to take all kinds of measures to save patients’ lives.”
Pal claimed that Chhetri was not managing director of the hospital when the fire broke out. “He had resigned in March 2011.” AMRI sources, however, later told Metro that he was at the helm when the fire broke out.
Opposing the bail plea, public prosecutor Shaktinath Bhattacharya submitted that the police were concerned about Chhetri’s health. “He was promptly admitted to the SSKM ICCU after he complained of chest pain. Let him be there under the observation of doctors. If his health improves within seven days, the stipulated duration of police custody, the police will interrogate him with the permission of doctors. He may be taken to some places from where crucial documents could be recovered.”
Bhattacharya also referred to Chhetri’s petition which stated that he looked after healthcare at AMRI Dhakuria. “The safety of the patients falls under the hospital’s healthcare system.”
After listening to both sides, the magistrate granted interim bail to Chhetri. “He (Chhetri) cannot be made ambulant at this moment. He needs to be under close observation of doctors,” he read out from the order around 9.30pm, some four hours after the hearing ended.
Chhetri’s son Milan, a doctor at a private hospital, thanked chief minister Mamata Banerjee following the order.
Arguing for Pronab Dasgupta’s bail, Tapen Roychowdhury said his client needed special care as both his knees had been replaced. “If granted bail, he won’t flee or tamper with evidence. Besides, he was supposed to perform surgeries on a number of patients. At the least, he should be allowed to sleep on an orthopaedic bed, which he requires,” Roychowdhury said.
Arranging an orthopaedic bed would not be possible for the police, replied the public prosecutor. “If Dasgupta’s family wants to provide it, we have no objection.”
The police custody of AMRI officials Preeta Banerjee and Sajid Hossain has been extended till February 6. The judicial custody of two others, Satyabrata Upadhyay and Sanjib Pal, has been extended till February16.
AMRI sleuths soft on firemen - Probe belies Mamata ‘fair’ promise
KINSUK BASU, TT: The AMRI probe has undermined the chief minister’s promise of being “fair” with sleuths turning a blind eye to fire officials who allowed the Dhakuria hospital to run despite fire hazards and government officials who were mute witnesses to the fatal violation of safety norms.
Metro has spoken to relatives of the victims, lawyers of the arrested directors and a section of cops and identified a few prominent persons who could have prevented the December 9 tragedy had they acted by the book but have not been named as accused.
According to investigators, AMRI Dhakuria had not been issued a fire licence at least since 2008 and had been operating on the strength of provisional no-objection certificates.
Sources said Gopal Bhattacharya, the director of fire services, and Deepak Sarkar, the deputy director in-charge of fire protection, were responsible for issuing the NOCs to the hospital despite violation of safety norms in the basement that posed serious fire threats.
“The additional director of fire services, Debapriya Biswas, who is the signing authority, was in hospital during the period and Bhattacharya was in charge of issuing the certificate. He had cleared the papers prepared by Sarkar. There’s no denying that the two had been aware of the fire hazards,” said an officer in the detective department.
Bhattacharya, however, claimed he was unaware of what had happened before 2011 and slammed the civic body for allowing the violations.
“I have got nothing to do with the NOC. Inspectors are involved in the process.... Please don’t ask me anything,” said Bhattacharya.
Sarkar said he was “not involved” with issuing the NOC but refused to name who was. A few days back he was transferred from the department’s headquarters on Free School Street to Durgapur.
The most damning indictment of the firemen came from none other than public prosecutor Shaktinath Bhattacharya, whose recent submission at the Alipore court amounted to an admission that the fire department had been issuing no-objection certificates to the Dhakuria hospital year after year despite false promises by the management.
“Since 2008, the fire brigade has been issuing no-objection certificates (to the Dhakuria hospital) every year on the basis of affidavits (by the management promising to clean up the basement). And every year the hospital had failed to keep its word,” Bhattacharya had submitted on January 20.
The fire department had first asked the hospital management to clear the upper basement in 2008. The department had pointed out how an area earmarked for car parking had been converted into office space and also stocked with inflammable articles.
The AMRI authorities had agreed to mend ways and accordingly a provisional NOC was issued.
“This became the routine,” said the officer. “The latest NOC was issued in August 2011 following an affidavit by AMRI official Sanjib Pal, promising to clear the basement within 90 days. Preeta Banerjee, the AMRI vice-president, had submitted a similar affidavit last year.”
The basement fire that claimed 91 lives broke out days after the latest deadline expired. A probe revealed that the management had again failed to keep its promise.
“If Banerjee and Pal could be arrested, why not the fire department officials who kept issuing NOCs despite the violations? The officials are guilty of dereliction of duty,” said the police officer.
Among those whose roles have not yet come under the scanner, to the shock and surprise of the victims’ kin and sections of the police, are Soumendranath Banerjee, the former director of medical education, and Sukumar Bhattacharya, the special secretary in the health department.
Banerjee was chairman of the AMRI board from March 2008 to August 2011. Bhattacharya joined the board in June 2011. Swastha Bhavan officials said neither had filed any report on the violation of safety guidelines at the hospital.
“Like doctors Mani Chhetri and Pronab Dasgupta, the officials, too, should have been booked,” said an officer.
Ropeway ride on must-list - The thrill tourists missed for eight years
VIVEK CHHETRI, TT, Darjeeling, Feb. 2: The ropeway rides resumed in Darjeeling today after eight years with an advanced system to ensure the safety of the occupants.
The rides were suspended in 2003 when three gondolas had plunged 50 feet below killing four tourists. The Darjeeling Rangeet Valley ropeway was thrown open to the public today on the basis of a no-objection certificate issued by the public works department.
The cable car utility is a joint venture between the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation and the Conveyor and Ropeway Services Pvt Ltd.
“The ropeway is being made operational for the public from today and this is expected to be a major tourist attraction in the days to come. A formal inauguration is likely to take place in March,” said N.C. Dutta, the chief executive officer of the CRS.
However, officials of the WBFDC said the formal inauguration was unlikely to take place as the operation had already started.
Sources said more safety tools had been added to the ropeway to ensure that there was no recurrence of the accident.
“A system encompassing devices like limit switches, rope catches and guards has been installed. It can immediately detect any glitch the ropeway might develop and bring to halt the entire service automatically,” said a source.
The rides are for a 5km distance from Singamari to Vah-Tukvar downhill.
Four tourists were killed when three cabins had jumped the cable and plunged 50feet below into a tea garden on October 19, 2003. Cabins 1, 2 and 15 of the 15-car service that was bringing tourists back from Vah-Tukvar plummeted near Sat Talla. Cabin 2, which tumbled down about 200feet into a gorge, did not have any passenger.
This time, the ropeway service has only 10 cabins which can accommodate four passengers each. Tourists have to pay Rs 120 each for a 40 minute round trip.
The Duttas from Calcutta were among the first batch of people who took the trip today. “We heard that the ropeway was being made operational from today and that is why we decided to come here. The trip was spectacular as one could see the mountains and the panoramic view of the tea gardens,” said Antara Dutta.
Tour and travel operators had welcomed the government’s decision to restart the ropeway service.
Pradip Tamang, the general secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, had said earlier: “The ropeway was a great tourist attraction as the view from the cabins is unmatched. If the ropeway is made functional, we are hoping that tourists will extend their stay in Darjeeling by a day.”
Nigerian 'kingpin' arrested in multi-crore online banking fraud
TNN | Feb 3, 2012,KOLKATA: Beware before clicking a mail sent by any unknown person. You could be a victim of 'sphygmograph' - a hi-tech e-fraud - and within days fraudsters may empty your bank account.
On Thursday the anti-bank fraud squad of Kolkata Police, led by Soumya Banerjee, unearthed a racket operated by group of Nigerians. One of the kingpins, Felix Nudubisieigs, has been arrested from Puduchhery, say police.
Investigators say that Felix, who has been in India since 2006, is one of the masterminds of the racket which has swindled crores of rupees from people in the last year alone.
In the past few months Kolkata Police has been receiving peculiar complaints from people that their money has been withdrawn or transferred to some unknown account. Alind Jain was one among the victims. A resident of Moradabad, he said that Rs 40,000 was withdrawn from his account and transferred to an account of private bank at Shakespeare Sarani. He suspected his e-banking password had been compromised but could not say how.
Investigators were stunned when they finally unraveled the modus operandi. The scamsters used to send lucrative mails randomly across the country. The mails could be in different forms. You could get a job offer from a multinational company. Or a lottery or even a greetings. When a recipient clicked on the mail, a Trojan virus would penetrate their system.
It remains dormant when the victim logs out of the mail account. When he logs back in, the virus starts copying every stroke on the keyboard and the details of the mail and sends to the mother server operated by the fraudsters.
Investigators said that soon after getting the copied details, the fraudsters start monitoring the victim's mail. If he logs into his bank account online to check his balance, the racketeers get every detail, including the password. If the victim's account balance is lucrative then transfer the money to another account opened in a fictitious name.
The racket was so smart that businessmen were conned into paying directly into the fraud account. For instance, if someone got a mail from his business partner for a payment, the fraudsters would spy on it and use the stolen details to send a fake mail asking that the money be deposited in such and such account.
Police said that the clever fraudsters recruited scores of Indians to open account in fictitious names to conceal the direct involvement of the Nigerians. They asked the recruited youths to open as many accounts in different banks as they could. "The foot soldiers got a cut of the amount transferred to the account. Soon after a few fraudulent transactions, the gang used to ask the account holder to shut it and open another one," said an officer. The racket generally used routed each fraud transaction through five to six accounts before withdrawing the money.
Investigators have spotted more than 20 such accounts in Tripur, Chennai and other cities in south India.
Police have sealed several accounts containing crores of rupees swindled from different people across the country India and are now looking for the victims. Felix landed in India on a student visa and later joined the fraud racket, said police. "He was produced before a Tripur court on Thursday and will be bring to Kolkata on transit remand," said joint commissioner of police, crime, Damayanti Sen.
Sikkim scraps two power plants on ‘holy’ river
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| The abandoned site of a hydel project at Yuksom on the Rathong Chu that was scrapped by the Sikkim gove |
The state, however, has not yet decided on the third project on the river in West Sikkim.
According to sources, on January 25, the cabinet decided to scrap the Ting Ting (99MW) and the Lethang (96MW) projects proposed over the Rathong Chu, a river considered sacred by the Buddhists in Sikkim.
The state, however, has not yet issued a formal notification.
The decision to scrap the projects comes a month after a high-powered committee constituted by the state government submitted its report. The panel was asked to examine if the Rathong Chu projects could be implemented.
“We will communicate the cabinet’s decision to the private power developers at Ting Ting and Lethang. The Tashiding project is under examination,” said an official of the state power department.
The Ting Ting project is in the initial stages of land acquisition and the project in Lethang was rejected by the National Board for Wildlife last year. Sources said the decision on “further examination” of the Tashiding project was taken as more than Rs 100 crore had already been invested and tunnelling work had started.
The high-powered committee has been asked to conduct another study on the project, sources said.
Eight organisations under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) have been opposing the projects on the Rathong Chu.
“The organisations have been campaigning in West Sikkim and consolidating public opinion. Although we are waiting for a formal announcement from the government on the scrapping of the Ting Ting and Lethang projects, we fail to understand why the Tashiding project was not scrapped,” JAC spokesperson Tenzing Chewang Bhutia said today.
“Since the September 18 earthquake, people in the Yangtey gram panchayat area are scared that tunneling work might trigger more tremors that will be a threat to their lives and properties,” said Tenzing. He said residents of Yangtey feared that the tunnel work would trigger landslides in the locality.
The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (Siblac) convener, Tseten Tashi Bhutia, said the Pawan Chamling government had scrapped a Rathong Chu project at Lethang in 1997 when it was in its advanced stages. The committee is a member of the JAC.
“An amount of Rs 33 crore had already been spent on the project and still Chamling had scrapped it because of the opposition from monks and local people. The expenditure (of Rs 100 crore) would not have been incurred had the state government accepted our demand to stall all the projects till the high power committee set up in November submitted its report,” said Tseten.
The JAC will organise a rally at Geyzing against the Rathong Chu projects on February 13.
Tourists sensitised on World Wetlands Day at Tsomgo
Prabin Khaling, KalimNews, Gangtok,2 Feb:The World Wetland Day celebrated each year on 2nd February, marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. The first wetland day was celebrated in 1997. Since then government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands.The theme for this year was “Wetlands and Tourism”, and in keeping with this theme the Tsomgo Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti in collaboration with WWF-India, Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme celebrated the event in Tsomgo with an aim to sensitise the tourists. An exhibition of posters related to Tsomgo lake and its biodiversity and cultural values, threats and conservation measures was put on display for the tourists. Along with this, members of Pokhri Sanrakshan Samiti also explained through posters all the activities that PSS had conducted over the years, and explained to the tourists how the Rs.10 that they had contributed as conservation fee was being utilised.
A “Wetlands Tour Quiz” that took tourists on a tour of the various wetlands in the state, while being quizzed about Sikkim and its environment was the highlight of the day. This gave participants a chance to know about the other wetlands of the state and understand their importance. Gifts of posters, book marks, postcards, stickers, badges, caps and t-shirts ensured tourists interest in the activities and at the same time learning about environment. On the occasion Landscape Coordinator Khangchendzonga Landscape Programme WWF – India Miss Priyadarshinee Shrestha and Miss Lak Tsheden Theengh,Sr.Project Officer(High altitude wetlands WWF-India ) also present .
The programme was also supported by Officials from Forest, Environment and Wildlife Management and Police Department and the local communities.
AMRI MD Mani Chettri granted interim bail
PTI, Kolkata, February 02, 2012: A city court on Thursday granted interim bail to renowned doctor Mani Chettri, arrested in connection with the fire at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata that claimed 93 lives.
Chettri, the managing director in whose name the hospital had the licence, was arrested on January 27 along with another doctor Pranab Dasgupta.
Chief judicial magistrate, Alipore, CH Karim granted interim bail to Chettri till February 16 on a bond of Rs 20,000 and directed him to submit his passport.
The court, however, extended police custody of Dasgupta, a director of the hospital, along with senior hospital officials Pritha Banerjee and Sajid Hossain, till February 6.
It also extended judicial custody of all the other directors arrested in connection with the case, where they have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Lawyers, appearing for 91-year-old Chettri, submitted that the doctor was ill and currently being treated at government-run SSKM hospital, and as such should be granted bail.
RS Agarwal, another arrested AMRI director, is also admitted to the same government hospital after he complained of illness.
While thirteen people have so far been arrested in connection with the case, three board members -- Aditya Agarwal, Preeti Surekha and Rahul Todi -- are absconding.
The licence of the hospital was cancelled on the day of the fire incident -- December 9.
Chhetri gets interim bail
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| Mani Chhetri |
The judicial custody of directors S.K. Todi and D.N. Agarwal, lodged in Alipore Central jail, has been extended till February 16.
Three other directors — Manish Goenka, Prashant Goenka and Ravi Todi — moved the high court for bail on Wednesday. Two others, R.S. Goenka and R.S. Agarwal, had done so earlier.
The Alipore chief judicial magistrate, C.H. Karim, allowed bail till February 16 to Chhetri because of his health. The doctor has been in the intensive coronary care unit of SSKM Hospital since his arrest on January 27.
The bail has been granted against a surety of Rs 20,000 and with the condition that Chhetri could not leave Calcutta and would have to hand over his passport to the investigating officer.
Chhetri’s lawyer Samaraditya Pal said the 91-year-old doctor had been suffering from serious illnesses, which had been mentioned in the report submitted by SSKM Hospital. “In the past seven days, Chhetri had suffered internal haemorrhage, causing blood-clots in his hands. It may turn out to be fatal if the haemorrhage attacks his brain.”
Pal said the prosecution had wrongly claimed that Chhetri did not bother to visit the hospital the day the fire broke out. “He rushed to the spot around 5am, as soon as he came to know of the incident. He spoke to fire brigade officers and the director of medical education and told them to take all kinds of measures to save patients’ lives.”
Pal claimed that Chhetri was not managing director of the hospital when the fire broke out. “He had resigned in March 2011.” AMRI sources, however, later told Metro that he was at the helm when the fire broke out.
Opposing the bail plea, public prosecutor Shaktinath Bhattacharya submitted that the police were concerned about Chhetri’s health. “He was promptly admitted to the SSKM ICCU after he complained of chest pain. Let him be there under the observation of doctors. If his health improves within seven days, the stipulated duration of police custody, the police will interrogate him with the permission of doctors. He may be taken to some places from where crucial documents could be recovered.”
Bhattacharya also referred to Chhetri’s petition which stated that he looked after healthcare at AMRI Dhakuria. “The safety of the patients falls under the hospital’s healthcare system.”
After listening to both sides, the magistrate granted interim bail to Chhetri. “He (Chhetri) cannot be made ambulant at this moment. He needs to be under close observation of doctors,” he read out from the order around 9.30pm, some four hours after the hearing ended.
Chhetri’s son Milan, a doctor at a private hospital, thanked chief minister Mamata Banerjee following the order.
Arguing for Pronab Dasgupta’s bail, Tapen Roychowdhury said his client needed special care as both his knees had been replaced. “If granted bail, he won’t flee or tamper with evidence. Besides, he was supposed to perform surgeries on a number of patients. At the least, he should be allowed to sleep on an orthopaedic bed, which he requires,” Roychowdhury said.
Arranging an orthopaedic bed would not be possible for the police, replied the public prosecutor. “If Dasgupta’s family wants to provide it, we have no objection.”
The police custody of AMRI officials Preeta Banerjee and Sajid Hossain has been extended till February 6. The judicial custody of two others, Satyabrata Upadhyay and Sanjib Pal, has been extended till February16.
AMRI sleuths soft on firemen - Probe belies Mamata ‘fair’ promise
KINSUK BASU, TT: The AMRI probe has undermined the chief minister’s promise of being “fair” with sleuths turning a blind eye to fire officials who allowed the Dhakuria hospital to run despite fire hazards and government officials who were mute witnesses to the fatal violation of safety norms.Metro has spoken to relatives of the victims, lawyers of the arrested directors and a section of cops and identified a few prominent persons who could have prevented the December 9 tragedy had they acted by the book but have not been named as accused.
According to investigators, AMRI Dhakuria had not been issued a fire licence at least since 2008 and had been operating on the strength of provisional no-objection certificates.
Sources said Gopal Bhattacharya, the director of fire services, and Deepak Sarkar, the deputy director in-charge of fire protection, were responsible for issuing the NOCs to the hospital despite violation of safety norms in the basement that posed serious fire threats.
“The additional director of fire services, Debapriya Biswas, who is the signing authority, was in hospital during the period and Bhattacharya was in charge of issuing the certificate. He had cleared the papers prepared by Sarkar. There’s no denying that the two had been aware of the fire hazards,” said an officer in the detective department.
Bhattacharya, however, claimed he was unaware of what had happened before 2011 and slammed the civic body for allowing the violations.
“I have got nothing to do with the NOC. Inspectors are involved in the process.... Please don’t ask me anything,” said Bhattacharya.
Sarkar said he was “not involved” with issuing the NOC but refused to name who was. A few days back he was transferred from the department’s headquarters on Free School Street to Durgapur.
The most damning indictment of the firemen came from none other than public prosecutor Shaktinath Bhattacharya, whose recent submission at the Alipore court amounted to an admission that the fire department had been issuing no-objection certificates to the Dhakuria hospital year after year despite false promises by the management.
“Since 2008, the fire brigade has been issuing no-objection certificates (to the Dhakuria hospital) every year on the basis of affidavits (by the management promising to clean up the basement). And every year the hospital had failed to keep its word,” Bhattacharya had submitted on January 20.
The fire department had first asked the hospital management to clear the upper basement in 2008. The department had pointed out how an area earmarked for car parking had been converted into office space and also stocked with inflammable articles.
The AMRI authorities had agreed to mend ways and accordingly a provisional NOC was issued.
“This became the routine,” said the officer. “The latest NOC was issued in August 2011 following an affidavit by AMRI official Sanjib Pal, promising to clear the basement within 90 days. Preeta Banerjee, the AMRI vice-president, had submitted a similar affidavit last year.”
The basement fire that claimed 91 lives broke out days after the latest deadline expired. A probe revealed that the management had again failed to keep its promise.
“If Banerjee and Pal could be arrested, why not the fire department officials who kept issuing NOCs despite the violations? The officials are guilty of dereliction of duty,” said the police officer.
Among those whose roles have not yet come under the scanner, to the shock and surprise of the victims’ kin and sections of the police, are Soumendranath Banerjee, the former director of medical education, and Sukumar Bhattacharya, the special secretary in the health department.
Banerjee was chairman of the AMRI board from March 2008 to August 2011. Bhattacharya joined the board in June 2011. Swastha Bhavan officials said neither had filed any report on the violation of safety guidelines at the hospital.
“Like doctors Mani Chhetri and Pronab Dasgupta, the officials, too, should have been booked,” said an officer.
Ropeway ride on must-list - The thrill tourists missed for eight years
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| A ropeway ride on the first day of the relaunch of the service in Darjeeling on Thursday. Picture by Suman Tamang |
The rides were suspended in 2003 when three gondolas had plunged 50 feet below killing four tourists. The Darjeeling Rangeet Valley ropeway was thrown open to the public today on the basis of a no-objection certificate issued by the public works department.
The cable car utility is a joint venture between the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation and the Conveyor and Ropeway Services Pvt Ltd.
“The ropeway is being made operational for the public from today and this is expected to be a major tourist attraction in the days to come. A formal inauguration is likely to take place in March,” said N.C. Dutta, the chief executive officer of the CRS.
However, officials of the WBFDC said the formal inauguration was unlikely to take place as the operation had already started.
Sources said more safety tools had been added to the ropeway to ensure that there was no recurrence of the accident.
“A system encompassing devices like limit switches, rope catches and guards has been installed. It can immediately detect any glitch the ropeway might develop and bring to halt the entire service automatically,” said a source.
The rides are for a 5km distance from Singamari to Vah-Tukvar downhill. Four tourists were killed when three cabins had jumped the cable and plunged 50feet below into a tea garden on October 19, 2003. Cabins 1, 2 and 15 of the 15-car service that was bringing tourists back from Vah-Tukvar plummeted near Sat Talla. Cabin 2, which tumbled down about 200feet into a gorge, did not have any passenger.
This time, the ropeway service has only 10 cabins which can accommodate four passengers each. Tourists have to pay Rs 120 each for a 40 minute round trip.
The Duttas from Calcutta were among the first batch of people who took the trip today. “We heard that the ropeway was being made operational from today and that is why we decided to come here. The trip was spectacular as one could see the mountains and the panoramic view of the tea gardens,” said Antara Dutta.
Tour and travel operators had welcomed the government’s decision to restart the ropeway service.
Pradip Tamang, the general secretary of the Darjeeling Association of Travel Agents, had said earlier: “The ropeway was a great tourist attraction as the view from the cabins is unmatched. If the ropeway is made functional, we are hoping that tourists will extend their stay in Darjeeling by a day.”
Nigerian 'kingpin' arrested in multi-crore online banking fraud
TNN | Feb 3, 2012,KOLKATA: Beware before clicking a mail sent by any unknown person. You could be a victim of 'sphygmograph' - a hi-tech e-fraud - and within days fraudsters may empty your bank account.
On Thursday the anti-bank fraud squad of Kolkata Police, led by Soumya Banerjee, unearthed a racket operated by group of Nigerians. One of the kingpins, Felix Nudubisieigs, has been arrested from Puduchhery, say police.
Investigators say that Felix, who has been in India since 2006, is one of the masterminds of the racket which has swindled crores of rupees from people in the last year alone.
In the past few months Kolkata Police has been receiving peculiar complaints from people that their money has been withdrawn or transferred to some unknown account. Alind Jain was one among the victims. A resident of Moradabad, he said that Rs 40,000 was withdrawn from his account and transferred to an account of private bank at Shakespeare Sarani. He suspected his e-banking password had been compromised but could not say how.
Investigators were stunned when they finally unraveled the modus operandi. The scamsters used to send lucrative mails randomly across the country. The mails could be in different forms. You could get a job offer from a multinational company. Or a lottery or even a greetings. When a recipient clicked on the mail, a Trojan virus would penetrate their system.
It remains dormant when the victim logs out of the mail account. When he logs back in, the virus starts copying every stroke on the keyboard and the details of the mail and sends to the mother server operated by the fraudsters.
Investigators said that soon after getting the copied details, the fraudsters start monitoring the victim's mail. If he logs into his bank account online to check his balance, the racketeers get every detail, including the password. If the victim's account balance is lucrative then transfer the money to another account opened in a fictitious name.
The racket was so smart that businessmen were conned into paying directly into the fraud account. For instance, if someone got a mail from his business partner for a payment, the fraudsters would spy on it and use the stolen details to send a fake mail asking that the money be deposited in such and such account.
Police said that the clever fraudsters recruited scores of Indians to open account in fictitious names to conceal the direct involvement of the Nigerians. They asked the recruited youths to open as many accounts in different banks as they could. "The foot soldiers got a cut of the amount transferred to the account. Soon after a few fraudulent transactions, the gang used to ask the account holder to shut it and open another one," said an officer. The racket generally used routed each fraud transaction through five to six accounts before withdrawing the money.
Investigators have spotted more than 20 such accounts in Tripur, Chennai and other cities in south India.
Police have sealed several accounts containing crores of rupees swindled from different people across the country India and are now looking for the victims. Felix landed in India on a student visa and later joined the fraud racket, said police. "He was produced before a Tripur court on Thursday and will be bring to Kolkata on transit remand," said joint commissioner of police, crime, Damayanti Sen.
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