Briefly State

Minor among four bird smugglers held

KOLKATA: Four,including a minor were arrested Sunday by the wildlife wing of the forest department on charges of inter-state trading of scheduled birds. “We have been keeping a watch on them for 3-4 months. This morning,we intercepted a taxi near the Canal East Road and Galiff Road crossing and nabbed the suspects,” said Kalyan Das,conservator of forest wildlife (HQ). The three adults — Md Osman,Md Sulaiman and Md Sayeed — are suspected to be part of the gang. Police seized mobile phones and cash worth Rs 1.5 lakh,along with 151 munias and 21 parakeets. The three adults will be presented at the court Monday,while the minor will be presented at the juvenile court. If proven guilty,they face a jail term of three years,and fine up to Rs 25,000 or both.

80 children given wrong vaccine

KOLKATA: Over 80 children were administered wrong vaccine in Hooghly Sunday. They were supposed to be given polio vaccine,but were instead administered Hepatitis B vaccine. The infants,all of under five,were rushed to the nearest hospital. “The 82 infants were inadvertently given the vaccine,probably due to a mix-up in the kits. They were kept under observation for 4-5 hours and then released,” said Hooghly District Magistrate Sripriya Rengarajan. She added the health department employees who were responsible for the goof-up were suspended.

Missing student’s kin vandalise school

KOLKATA: Locals and relatives of a student at Lee Collins High School,Beleghata,vandalised the school Sunday. Shantanu Mondal,the Class IX student was missing since September 9. He got into a fight with a senior student at the hostel. His family members were informed and Tuesday,an abduction complaint was lodged at the Beleghata Police Station. Sunday,relatives of the Shantanu were informed that he was killed and buried in the hostel campus. Police conducted a search,but till late night nothing was found. Two hostel superintendents and a school official were summoned.