Alms And The Men: Pucca House, TV & Cellphone — All From Begging Stint In Punjab
Subhro Maitra | TNN
Malda: Beggars can’t be choosers, right? Wrong. For this band of intrepid alms-seekers from Malda, the right to choose is a perk that comes with the job — from TVs and mobile phones to how big their homes will be, they have made all the correct choices.
“The mud houses are vulnerable to floods, you know. So this time I had a pucca house built with concrete,” says Anath Halder. The 60-year-old, originally a fish-net weaver by profession, switched to begging once his eyesight started failing. When it became difficult to sustain his family of wife and four sons with the meagre earnings, Anath decided to try his luck in Punjab. He has never looked back.
“I left two of my sons here in Malda and went to Gurdaspur with my wife and other two sons. In a few months, I had saved up some money,” Anath says. How much? He doesn’t want to elaborate, but enough for him to open a bank account back home in Bulbulchandi, Malda. “The house had become weak after last year’s flood, so I decided to rebuild it,” he says. He has also married off two of his sons. Anath is now preparing to return to Punjab for another stint.
Hundreds like Anath from Malda have taken up begging in the cities of north India. Most of these families are Bangladeshi migrants hailing from Bulbulchandi, Aiho in Habibpur block, Bamangola block and other places near the India-Bangladesh border. They go in groups to pilgrimage cites and temple towns like Mathura, Vrindavan, Benaras and Amritsar in groups to beg. “Many of them never return as they have few family commitments. They take diksha and eventually adopt madhukari (begging as a livelihood). There’s nothing wrong in it,” says Subal Mandal of Aiho.
Dobapara in Bulbulchandi is one such village that houses a number of migrant beggar families. Located just 5 km from the Bangladesh border, most residents crossed over years ago. On this side, life has settled into an easy rhythm. While a few family members go away for months to beg, others tend to the cattle and fields.
Septuagenarian Nirmala Halder first went to Dinanagar in Punjab about 15 years back. “I had some gynaecological problems and needed to have an operation. But my sons were in no position to pay for it. So I decided to earn for myself and went with some villagers to Punjab. Even after paying for rent, food and travel, I managed to save at least Rs 1,000 each month.” After spending five years there, Nirmala had enough money to come back for treatment to Malda.
But once her convalescence was over, Nirmala couldn’t ignore the pull that her life in Punjab exerted on her. She went back to Dinanagar — returning home after a year always meant enough money for the impoverished family of two sons.
Do they ever face problems while begging so far away from their homes? “Sometimes police harass us, especially in Delhi, but we have identity cards,” said Radha Halder. They get quarters on rent and cheap food. Is there a commission to be paid? “No, we don’t have to share our earning with anyone. Rather, travelling by train is free as well. Who will ask beggars for tickets?” quips Radha.
The next generation — the sons and daughters of beggars — see nothing wrong with the profession. “Everybody in our village is doing this. Even I had gone to Punjab for two months. I’ll go there again. is there any work for me here?” asks 16-year-old Achintya Halder.
Asim, a 28-year-old youth, studied up to Class V and went to Dinanagar as a minor. “But once I grew up, it became difficult for me to beg. I switched to collecting plastic and other recyclable waste.” Today, he has enough to keep his family in rented accommodation in Punjab. He even has a TV and mobile phone at home. “I never take my mobile to work. It may attract unnecessary attention,” he says...published in TOI on 7.3.10
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Woman accuses hubby of kidnap
Subhro Maitra MALDA: Having an affair with someone linked to the corridors of power is fine, but if it doesn't culminate in marriage, the results can be disastrous. Eighteen year-old girl Himadri Burman learnt it the hard way after she broke up with senior CPM minister Sailen Sarkar's domestic help Ananta Roy and married Subhas Burman. The love story soon took a turn for the worse, with Himadri lodging a kidnap complaint with police against her husband within two days of their elopement and marriage. Subhas has been arrested.
In her complaint with Gajole police, Himadri claimed she was drugged and kidnapped by Subhas. Himadri's father Biswanath Roy, who accompanied her to the police station, refused to open up. Roy only hinted that he was under "pressure".
Soon after the marriage, police reached Subhas Burman's Gournandanbati house at Bamangola on Saturday and asked Himadri to show an age proof. The verification over, Himadri told police that she had married Subhas voluntarily. Subhas also pleaded with police not to disturb them as they were leading a happy married life.
Villagers have questioned the police's motive, and why the officers had come despite no one lodging a complaint. Subhas had reportedly hinted that Ananta, Himadri's former fiance, had pulled strings.
On Sunday, the newlyweds went to a local fair. Suddenly, Subhas found his wife missing. Unable to spot her, Subhas went to Bamangola PS to lodge a diary. But police reportedly detained him. This was the same time that Himadri lodged the drug-and-kidnap complaint against him. "I was not conscious when police came to Subhas's house on Saturday as I had been drugged," she claimed.
Ananta could not be reached for comments. Even CPM minister Sailen Sarkar is not taking calls. Sarkar has told CPM's Malda secretary Jiban Moitra that he had no hand in the development. "The minister told me that he has no role," Moitra said.
Malda SP Bhuban Mandal said, "We arrested Subhas after the girl lodged a complaint."..published on 2.2.2010
In her complaint with Gajole police, Himadri claimed she was drugged and kidnapped by Subhas. Himadri's father Biswanath Roy, who accompanied her to the police station, refused to open up. Roy only hinted that he was under "pressure".
Soon after the marriage, police reached Subhas Burman's Gournandanbati house at Bamangola on Saturday and asked Himadri to show an age proof. The verification over, Himadri told police that she had married Subhas voluntarily. Subhas also pleaded with police not to disturb them as they were leading a happy married life.
Villagers have questioned the police's motive, and why the officers had come despite no one lodging a complaint. Subhas had reportedly hinted that Ananta, Himadri's former fiance, had pulled strings.
On Sunday, the newlyweds went to a local fair. Suddenly, Subhas found his wife missing. Unable to spot her, Subhas went to Bamangola PS to lodge a diary. But police reportedly detained him. This was the same time that Himadri lodged the drug-and-kidnap complaint against him. "I was not conscious when police came to Subhas's house on Saturday as I had been drugged," she claimed.
Ananta could not be reached for comments. Even CPM minister Sailen Sarkar is not taking calls. Sarkar has told CPM's Malda secretary Jiban Moitra that he had no hand in the development. "The minister told me that he has no role," Moitra said.
Malda SP Bhuban Mandal said, "We arrested Subhas after the girl lodged a complaint."..published on 2.2.2010
Bank fraud with a twist, lakhs swindled
Money gone by the time authorities are alerted
Subhro Maitra | TNN
Malda: Faking currency notes does not hit the headlines anymore. The in-thing now is forging internal bank advice from branches not interconnected under a system called the core business solutions (CBS). It’s a flourishing business in Malda, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur. Kayesh Ali from Englishbazar tried this trick with the State Bank of India’s Amrity branch and withdrew Rs 19.25 lakh.
Ali deposited a cheque issued from Central Bank Of India’s Unnao branch in Uttar Pradesh. SBI’s Amrity branch in Malda where Ali deposited the cheque made the payment after routine verification. Days after releasing the cash, SBI’s reconciliation cell in Mumbai found to their surprise that there was no such account holder in CBI’s Unnao branch and the transaction was a fraud.
But how then did the SBI make the payment to Ali without checking the account? Investigators detected the fraud after taking it up with the SBI bank authorities.
Under the existing system, for cheques issued from non-CBS branches of banks other than SBI, the bank manager on receiving the cheque sends a letter to his counterpart in the area seeking advice whether to make the payment. The SBI branch manager, in this case the Unnao branch in uttar Pradesh gets in touch with CBI Unnao and sends the advice. The communication is done through courier agencies.
The police during investigation spotted a racket hand in glove with the courier agency. They take out the original papers and forge them including signatures of bank managers. So what the bank manager of SBI’s Amrity branch received as advice from his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh was a forged one. It said that the account holder had sufficient money and the cheque could be honoured. The bank manager acted on the advice and made the Rs 19.25 lakh payment to Ali. A similar fraud was detected in Malda’s main branch. The cheque was again issued from CBI’s U n n a o branch. It was a highvalue cheque of Rs 53.50 lakh. Two similar cheques of Rs 15.50 lakh and Rs 19.58 lakh have been deposited at two branches of SBI, Malda. However, the SBI has kept the cheques on hold after they got a hint of the forgery from its regional office.
Police have rounded up two persons Samarendra Mandal and Nibaran Ghosh in this connection from Ratua and is also looking for Kayesh Ali who withdrew the money. Investigators fear that an inter-state racket have been operating in the districts for quite sometime before it caught the notice of the bank authorities. According to police, the racket includes among others persons from the courier agency.
“The miscreants managed the original letter of SBI’s Amriti branch to the SBI manager Unnao seeking clearance of the cheque from the courier agency in Malda. They then forged the letter of clearance and also the signature of SBI bank officials in Unnao and sent it to SBI’s Amriti branch by courier”, said Kalyan Mukherjee, additional superintendent of police in Malda.
Subrata Mandal, officer of the SBI Amrity branch, made the payment of Rs19.25 lakh based on the forged letter. Mandal has been suspended. SBI has showcaused Mandal asking him how he made payment based on the forged letter within a week.
Following his suspension, the SBI Officers’ Association on Thursday called an indefinite strike in all 37 SBI branches in Malda and South Dinajpur demanding unconditional withdrawal of the suspension order....published in TOI on 5.3.10
Subhro Maitra | TNN
Malda: Faking currency notes does not hit the headlines anymore. The in-thing now is forging internal bank advice from branches not interconnected under a system called the core business solutions (CBS). It’s a flourishing business in Malda, Murshidabad and South Dinajpur. Kayesh Ali from Englishbazar tried this trick with the State Bank of India’s Amrity branch and withdrew Rs 19.25 lakh.
Ali deposited a cheque issued from Central Bank Of India’s Unnao branch in Uttar Pradesh. SBI’s Amrity branch in Malda where Ali deposited the cheque made the payment after routine verification. Days after releasing the cash, SBI’s reconciliation cell in Mumbai found to their surprise that there was no such account holder in CBI’s Unnao branch and the transaction was a fraud.
But how then did the SBI make the payment to Ali without checking the account? Investigators detected the fraud after taking it up with the SBI bank authorities.
Under the existing system, for cheques issued from non-CBS branches of banks other than SBI, the bank manager on receiving the cheque sends a letter to his counterpart in the area seeking advice whether to make the payment. The SBI branch manager, in this case the Unnao branch in uttar Pradesh gets in touch with CBI Unnao and sends the advice. The communication is done through courier agencies.
The police during investigation spotted a racket hand in glove with the courier agency. They take out the original papers and forge them including signatures of bank managers. So what the bank manager of SBI’s Amrity branch received as advice from his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh was a forged one. It said that the account holder had sufficient money and the cheque could be honoured. The bank manager acted on the advice and made the Rs 19.25 lakh payment to Ali. A similar fraud was detected in Malda’s main branch. The cheque was again issued from CBI’s U n n a o branch. It was a highvalue cheque of Rs 53.50 lakh. Two similar cheques of Rs 15.50 lakh and Rs 19.58 lakh have been deposited at two branches of SBI, Malda. However, the SBI has kept the cheques on hold after they got a hint of the forgery from its regional office.
Police have rounded up two persons Samarendra Mandal and Nibaran Ghosh in this connection from Ratua and is also looking for Kayesh Ali who withdrew the money. Investigators fear that an inter-state racket have been operating in the districts for quite sometime before it caught the notice of the bank authorities. According to police, the racket includes among others persons from the courier agency.
“The miscreants managed the original letter of SBI’s Amriti branch to the SBI manager Unnao seeking clearance of the cheque from the courier agency in Malda. They then forged the letter of clearance and also the signature of SBI bank officials in Unnao and sent it to SBI’s Amriti branch by courier”, said Kalyan Mukherjee, additional superintendent of police in Malda.
Subrata Mandal, officer of the SBI Amrity branch, made the payment of Rs19.25 lakh based on the forged letter. Mandal has been suspended. SBI has showcaused Mandal asking him how he made payment based on the forged letter within a week.
Following his suspension, the SBI Officers’ Association on Thursday called an indefinite strike in all 37 SBI branches in Malda and South Dinajpur demanding unconditional withdrawal of the suspension order....published in TOI on 5.3.10
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