TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Malda: Congress and Trinamool Congress may be alliance partners, but an FIR has been lodged against a Congress legislator in Malda for allegedly attacking a Trinamool Congress councillor. MLA Krishnendu Choudhury along with his wife and hundreds of supporters allegedly attacked the house of Trinamool councillor of English Bazar municipality Santanu Saha on Thursday morning. In a bid to save Saha, Trinamool secretary Chhoton Moulik was injured. Even Trinamool district president Goutam Chakraborty was assaulted. Later, a large police force led by additional police superintendent Kalyan Mukherjee went to control the situation. “My son was attacked by the MLA and his associates. They tried to kill him. Choudhury also threatened that he would raze our house. Thanks to timely police intervention, my son’s life was saved,” said Santanu’s mother, Baby Saha, in a complaint lodged with English Bazar police. Moulik, who was hospitalized after being attacked, also lodged a similar complaint against Choudhury and two of his associates. Inspector-in-charge of English Bazaar police station Bipul Majumder acknowledged that police have received two complaints against Choudhury. Goutam Chakraborty said Saha was attacked because for the past few days, hundreds of Congress supporters were switching over to Trinamool under his initiative. “Our organization is growing. This has caused Choudhury to panic and lead the attack.” Saha, a former Choudhury loyalist, had recently switched allegiance to Trinamool. With Chakraborty being the new Trinamool district president, the party has begun to make its presence felt in the strong Congress bastion. Many leaders and workers of Congress in English Bazar and Old Malda have defected to Trinamool. However, Choudhury claimed there was no politics involved in the incident. He cited personal reasons behind it. “Saha has been making slanderous remarks against my family for quite some time. He was trying to malign me and my close associates. So, my supporters have decided to boycott him socially,” Choudhury said. Trinamool has started a campaign condemning Choudhury’s attack. Even district Congress leaders are not supporting him. “It is not proper to attack someone by going to his house and sending a wrong message to supporters,” said Narendra Tiwari, district Congress leader and chairman of English Bazaar municipality. Cong office set ablaze Malda: Four persons were severely injured after a Congress party office was set ablaze at Ashapur in Malda on Wednesday. Congress has blamed CPM for the attack, though CPM has denied the allegation. Sources said that the CPM-dominated union of van drivers was collecting ‘subscription’ for the last few days from all vehicles. The Congress panchayat pradhan, Mahababul Haque, reportedly protested against that. The attack took place after that. TNN
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
2 rabies deaths despite vaccination
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Malda: The lives of 35 dog bite victims are hanging in balance after two people died showing rabies symptoms while the vaccination process was still on in Malda’s Harishchandrapur. The dog that bit the two victims also attacked 35 other villagers, two of them school students aged three and 10. Doctors said the two deaths over the past two days indicate that the vaccine may have become ineffective, which would mean that all the other villagers taking the vaccine are under threat. Malda CMOH Dr Srimanta Roy conceded that both victims — Alfaj Ali (46) and Pir Muhammad (45) — had died with symptoms of rabies. “What’s alarming is that the victims, as well as a number of others, are being vaccinated presently. We have already started field visits, apart from convening a district-level meeting to discuss the threat. We are also checking the quality of the vaccines supplied by the government agency,” Roy said. Though Roy hinted that both victims may have taken the first vaccine shot beyond the stipulated time, reports from the villages indicate otherwise. Pir, who died on Wednesday, had been bitten on August 3 and had taken the first vaccine on August 4 — within the crucial first 24 hours. Ali died on Thursday. While Pir was due for a fourth vaccine dose on Sunday, Ali too had already taken three vaccine shots. Both are residents of Kopra village under Vindol gram panchayat in Harishchandrapur block. With the two deaths, panic has gripped a cluster of villages like Kopra, Lakhanpur and Nisanpur. Hetu Sheikh, another patient showing signs of hydrophobia, was referred to Malda district hospital from Chanchal on Thursday. A dreaded disease in rural Bengal, the initial symptoms of rabies include headache and fever. If the vaccine is not administered, the symptoms may progress to acute pain, violent movements, sudden excitement, depression and inability to swallow water. The final stage shows mania and acute lethargy. Most patients pass into coma after this and die of respiratory failure.
Malda: The lives of 35 dog bite victims are hanging in balance after two people died showing rabies symptoms while the vaccination process was still on in Malda’s Harishchandrapur. The dog that bit the two victims also attacked 35 other villagers, two of them school students aged three and 10. Doctors said the two deaths over the past two days indicate that the vaccine may have become ineffective, which would mean that all the other villagers taking the vaccine are under threat. Malda CMOH Dr Srimanta Roy conceded that both victims — Alfaj Ali (46) and Pir Muhammad (45) — had died with symptoms of rabies. “What’s alarming is that the victims, as well as a number of others, are being vaccinated presently. We have already started field visits, apart from convening a district-level meeting to discuss the threat. We are also checking the quality of the vaccines supplied by the government agency,” Roy said. Though Roy hinted that both victims may have taken the first vaccine shot beyond the stipulated time, reports from the villages indicate otherwise. Pir, who died on Wednesday, had been bitten on August 3 and had taken the first vaccine on August 4 — within the crucial first 24 hours. Ali died on Thursday. While Pir was due for a fourth vaccine dose on Sunday, Ali too had already taken three vaccine shots. Both are residents of Kopra village under Vindol gram panchayat in Harishchandrapur block. With the two deaths, panic has gripped a cluster of villages like Kopra, Lakhanpur and Nisanpur. Hetu Sheikh, another patient showing signs of hydrophobia, was referred to Malda district hospital from Chanchal on Thursday. A dreaded disease in rural Bengal, the initial symptoms of rabies include headache and fever. If the vaccine is not administered, the symptoms may progress to acute pain, violent movements, sudden excitement, depression and inability to swallow water. The final stage shows mania and acute lethargy. Most patients pass into coma after this and die of respiratory failure.
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