2026

Malda: CCTV footage accessed by NDTV shows the moment when 34 motorcycles pursued the vehicles carrying seven judicial officers through the streets of Malda district in West Bengal late on Wednesday night. The officers had been sent to the Kaliachak area under instructions from the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India to hear complaints from voters whose names had been marked “under adjudication” during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.  A large crowd surrounded their vehicles and held them for around nine hours. When the officers finally managed to leave, the pursuing motorcycles followed them at high speed. The footage, recorded at 11:48 pm, shows the 34 bikes chasing a convoy of 10 vehicles. Audio recorded inside one of the cars reveals a female officer, clearly alarmed, telling her family she was frightened and urging them to take whatever steps were necessary.  She and her colleagues could be heard instructing the driver to accelerate, keep the headlights blinking and move as fast as possible. The incident has become the central issue in the early days of the West Bengal assembly election campaign. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his first public rally in the state since the election schedule was announced to place the Malda events at the heart of the BJP’s attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress. PM Modi said that the gherao of judicial officers demonstrated what he called the Trinamool’s “sponsored maha jungleraj”. He said the episode showed that even judges and constitutional processes were no longer safe under the Mamata Banerjee government.  “What kind of government is this? What kind of system is this where even judges and the constitutional process are not safe?” he asked. “How can such people ensure the safety of Bengal’s common people?” The Prime Minister said the situation had become so serious that the Supreme Court itself had to intervene to secure the officers’ release. He accused the Trinamool of trying to strangle constitutional institutions whenever the “noose of justice” tightened around the party. The Bengal assembly elections will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, with results on May 4. The Trinamool Congress dismissed PM Modi’s remarks as desperate election rhetoric.  The police response on the night of the incident has also come under scrutiny. According to accounts of the events, officers took nearly ten hours to cover a distance of only 500 metres from the local police station to reach the scene. Action was eventually taken only after the Supreme Court intervened. The seven judicial magistrates included three women. 

Kolkata: Four-time MLA and Trinamool heavyweight Aroop Biswas on Wednesday filed his nomination for the Tollygunge assembly constituency, with a rally to the Alipore Treasury Building. A key face of south Kolkata politics, Biswas was the last among the city’s heavyweight candidates to submit his papers. He reached the district election office in the afternoon, hours after CM Mamata Banerjee filed her nomination. “I have been with the people of Tollygunge throughout the year. We are not like BJP’s migratory birds who disappear after elections. This is my birthplace, and I have worked here since my college days,” minister Biswas said after filing his nomination. BJP has fielded actor-turned-politician Papiya Adhikari, adding a celebrity edge to the race. Biswas first won Tollygunge in 2006 and has retained the seat in 2011, 2016 and 2021, cementing his position as one of the party’s key organisers.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Thursday took serious note of the Malda hostage incident, where protesters gheraoed judicial officers for several hours in poll-bound West Bengal. The court also issued show-cause notices to the state’s chief secretary and DGP. Trouble began on Wednesday afternoon in West Bengal’s Malda district when a group of protesters gathered outside the Kaliachak 2 Block Development Office around 4pm. They were angry over the alleged removal of names from the voter list during the special intensive revision (SIR) process. The protesters first demanded a meeting with the judicial officers present inside the office. When they were not allowed in, the situation escalated. The crowd surrounded the building, effectively trapping seven judicial officers, including three women, inside. As hours passed, the protest intensified. Demonstrators also blocked National Highway 12 (Kolkata-Siliguri route), disrupting traffic and increasing pressure on authorities. Late at night, a large number of security personnel reached the spot to carry out a rescue operation. When officers were brought out after midnight, protesters tried to stop their vehicles by placing bamboo poles on the road and even attempted to damage them. Police then used batons to disperse the crowd and safely evacuate the officials. During the chaos, there were claims that some protesters were injured, though this was not officially confirmed. The situation finally calmed down after an Additional District Magistrate arrived and assured the protesters that eligible voters’ names would be restored within four days. Following this, the road blockade was lifted. Later, the Election Commission sought a report on the incident from the state police chief. The court directed the chief secretary and the DGP to explain why action should not be taken against them, terming the incident an “abdication of duty” and questioning their “inaction.” Calling the episode “deplorable,” the top court said it appeared to be a “calculated and motivated” attempt to demoralise judicial officers and disrupt the ongoing electoral process. It made clear that it would not allow anyone to interfere with the process or take the law into their own hands, describing the incident as a psychological attack on officials. The court said the state government led by Mamata Banerjee.