HOWRAH: Fourteen years after green crusader Tapan Dutta was shot dead in Bally, his follower- turned-alleged co-conspirator was shot at from a close range almost on the same spot around 10.30 pm on Thursday. Debabrata Mondal, Sanpui-Basukati panchayat head and Trinamool leader, and local Trinamool worker Anupam Rana suffered bullet injuries in the attack at Sapui Para-Basukati in Howrah City’s Nischinda Police Station area. Mondal was hit in the lower abdomen and chest, while Rana sustained wounds in the leg and chest. Both were first taken to Belur State General Hospital and then shifted to SSKM Hospital, where they remain critical after surgery. The attack bears an eerie resemblance to the killing of Dutta’ on May 6, 2011. Dutta was shot dead for protesting illegal land filling. CBI is now probing the case, which was handed to the agency 11 years after the murder. His wife, Pratima, had alleged that he was targeted for opposing the “illegal” filling of water bodies near their home in Bally.

Mumbai, Apr 11 (UNI) In response to the surge in passenger traffic during the summer season, the Central Railway has announced the operation of two additional special train services between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Mumbai, and Howrah, aiming to ease travel pressure and provide greater convenience to long-distance passengers.As per the official schedule, Train No. 01145 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus–Howrah Special will depart from LT Terminus at 8:15 p,m. on 14 April and is scheduled to arrive at Howrah at 6 a.m. on the third day of its journey. In the return direction, Train No. 01146 Howrah–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Special will leave Howrah at 2:45 p,m, on 16 April and reach LT Terminus at 11:45 p.m. the following day.The trains will halt at key stations including Thane, Kalyan, Nashik Road, Bhusaval, Akola, Badnera, Nagpur, Gondia, Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Chakradharpur, Tatanagar, Kharagpur and Santragachi, ensuring connectivity across major regions along the route.In terms of composition, each train will consist of two air-conditioned second-class coaches, nine air-conditioned third-class coaches, three sleeper-class coaches, four general second-class coaches, one general second-class coach with guard’s brake van, and one generator van.Booking for the special train numbered 01145 will commence from 12 April at all computerised reservation centres as well as on the official IRCTC website.

Soumitra Roy, Shivashis Maulik, Howrah–Bally: Two days have passed since the Trinamool Panchayat Pradhan was shot in Bally, yet the main accused, Basu Chowdhury, remains untraceable. Investigators suspect he may have fled to another state. Police teams searched multiple hideouts across Bally, Belur and Liluah on Friday and Saturday nights. A police picket has been deployed outside Basu Chowdhury’s residence, but the building-materials trader is still missing. The family of the Trinamool panchayat head who was attacked with explosives believes a larger conspiracy is involved. Even after nearly three days, from Thursday night to Sunday, the police have not been able to arrest the key accused. The victim’s family remains terrified as the political temperature rises.

Bally Assembly Elections 2026 – Bally is one of the Assembly constituencies in West-bengal. The constituency is a GEN seat. The AITC, the are the main parties in the constituency. In the 2021 Assembly Elections, Rana Chatterjee from AITC won the seat with a margin of 6,237 votes. Rana Chatterjee was polled 53,347 votes with a vote share of 42.38 % and defeated Baishali Dalmiya from BJP who got 47,110 votes (37.43 %). In the 2016 Assembly Elections, Baishali Dalmiya from AITC won the seat and was polled 52,702 votes with a vote share of 46.97%. CPM candidate Saumendranath Bera got 37,299 votes (33.25 %) and was the runner-up.Baishali Dalmiya defeated Saumendranath Bera by a margin of 15,403 votes. The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 will be conducted in two phases -the first on April 23, 2026, and the second on April 29, 2026. The results will be announced on May 4, 2026.

Today, modern amenities, advanced equipment like charkhas and looms and marketing support are available for the women to help them achieve sustainable livelihood. It is a historic transformation of the sleepy tiger-infested Bally island in the dense mangrove thickets of Sundarbans in West Bengal. The island, which was totally disconnected from the mainstream of development since Independence, is now bustling with khadi activities. More than a hundred tiger widows (bag bidhoba in local parlance) of the Bally island who were engaged in spinning activity by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in 2018, can now boast modern amenities, advanced equipment like charkhas and looms and marketing support aimed at achieving sustainable livelihood. To begin khadi activities on the island, KVIC had set up a temporary structure three years ago, which has been converted into a permanent work shed now. KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena has inaugurated the newly built 3,000 sq feet work shed and a 500 sq feet common facility centre for khadi artisans on the Bally island. The “Tiger Victim Khadi Katai Kendra” is now equipped with 125 new model charkhas, 15 modern looms and provides employment to nearly 150 women artisans of the Bally island. KVIC has also provided these artisans with yarn dyeing and readymade garment manufacturing machines. The centre has been modernised at the cost of Rs 95 lakh which has been funded by KVIC under its Khadi Reforms and Development Programme (KRDP) and Workshed Scheme for khadi artisans. The centre is being run by a local khadi institution of West Bengal.