Briefly

CPM activist killed in West Midnapore
A CPM activist was gunned down by suspected Maoists in Chandbila village of West Midnapore district early on Monday morning. Guiram Singh was dragged out of his residence and shot at from point blank range. His body was recovered from the main road around 12 noon. West Midnapore SP Manoj Verma said Singh was killed by Maoists who left posters beside the body. Taking responsibility of the murder,the Maoists through the posters said Singh was working as a police spy and was involved in corruption.

Crude bombs explodes,3 injured
Three policemen were injured in a powerful explosion that rocked a local police station in the Chanchol area of Malda district on Monday evening. Assistant Sub-Inspector Mukul Mohanto and two home guards received splinter injuries and were admitted in a local hospital. Malda SP Bhuban Chandra Mondal said the blast occurred in the store room of the police station where seized crude bombs were kept.

“It is suspected that the seized crude bombs exploded today,” said Mondal,adding that crude bombs are usually kept in the store room of any police station after being defused.

The explosion occurred around 5.30 pm when about 10 to 12 policemen were inside the station. Senior officers from the district headquarters rushed to the spot on learning of the incident.

“An investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the explosion. It is not possible to give details on the incidents before a thorough probe,said Mondol.

Worst experience ever: Mexican team
The delegation from Mexico,the theme country for this year’s Kolkata Book Fair,has slammed the organisers for the “very bad organisation” and “horrible infrastructure” for a “fair with an international stature”. Bernardo Gomez-Pimienta,architect from Mexico who was in-charge of building the Mexican Pavilion here,said: “The condition of the fair ground is horrible. This is our worst experience ever. We do not think that we would be able to come here again.”

G G Dalmia,consul general of Consulate of Mongolia too termed the arrangements “pathetic”.

Murmurs against new Book Fair venue
Although the book fair has been shifted out of Maidan to the Milan Mela grounds,environmentalist Shubhash Dutta,who lobbied hard to get the venue changed citing environmental concerns,is not happy about the new venue,saying it lacks infrastructure.

“Milan Mela is not exactly the kind of place where a fair of this scale can be held,” said Dutta,who wanted the fair shifted out from the city’s green belt.

“First,it was sent to the Yuva Bharati Krirangan,and now it has been shifted to Milan Mela,which does not have proper infrastructure. Major cities in the world,including Delhi,have permanent fair grounds with excellent facilities,” he said,calling for an audit of the expenditure incurred on the fair.

Banani Kakkar of Public,a non-governmental organisation,too said Milan Mela seemed a bad choice for the fair.