In Brief

Survey party for new camp comes under Maoist fire
Security forces came under heavy fire in two separate incidents in the Maoist-affected parts of the state on Sunday. There were no reports of any casualties from the two sides. Maoist cadres fired at security personnel in Sarenga in Bankura district while they were on there way to survey areas in Telijat for relocating the camps. The Maoists exploded two land mines on the forces’ route. The security forces retaliated and the encounter lasted till 4 pm,said Vishal Garg,SP,Bankura. The ultras,however,fled into the Bhalukchera jungle,Garg said. “Security forces are conducting search operations in the area to trace the armed Maoists squads,” said Garg. Meanwhile,in Lakhanpur area of West Midnapore,a search party of security forces came under heavy gunfire from the Maoists. The firing continued for over two hours.

JEE Board to get its own printing press
The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEE) is set to have its own printing press to avoid any possibility of a paper leak. According to the authorities,the new press of JEE Board will come up at Salt lake. At present,JEE papers are printed at Saraswati Press — the state government printing press. “It will be an added advantage if we have a printing press of our own. Everything will be under our control and there will be better coordination,” said Siddhartha Datta,Chairman of WBJEE. The Joint Entrance Examination is the biggest competitive examination in the state— over 1 lakh student appear for about 22,000 seats in engineering and about 1,105 seats in medical colleges.

1 dies in Malda clash
One person was killed and another was injured when Congress and CPM supporters clashed at Nurlaganj in Malda on Sunday. Prabhat Mandal and Dulal Mandal,both active workers of Krishak Sabha,the CPM’s farmers’ wing,were shot allegedly by Congress supporters. While Prabhat died on the spot,Dulal’s condition is stated to be critical. The two groups clashed over possession of a piece of land at Nurlagunj. No arrest has been made so far. “We have deployed a huge police contingent there,as there the area is still tense,” said Bhuban Mandal,SP of Malda.