KNOW THE LITTLE MIX PLUS RISQUE FACTOR t2 T 92 PAGES CALCUTTA SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER 2014 Rs 3.00 XXCE www.telegraphindia.com Mamata hears blast, at last PRANESH SARKAR, PRONAB MONDALAND ARNAB GANGULY Oct. 17: Left defenceless by the discovery of a cache of bombs that Bengal police overlooked, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said “terrorists are terrorists” and declared that “we do not have any problems with the NIA” which is probing the Burdwan blast. Hours before the chief minister broke her silence on the blast, the first hint of a damage-control bid came when it emerged that the state government was thinking of acting against the police team that missed the 39 bombs found by central agencies yesterday. “Terrorists are terrorists. They do not belong to any religion. Ours is a desh bhakt (patriotic) party. We do not have any problems with the NIA (National Investigation Agency),” Mamata told a news conference at the Trinamul Congress headquarters. Rarely before has Mamata felt the need to reaffirm in public her party’s patriotism. But rarely before has the chief minister come under pressure from multiple flanks as is the case now. The Burdwan blast case is snowballing, the BJP is pummelling her with one uncomfortable question after the other and matters have come to such a head that cautionary voices are rising in Bangladesh — a possible target of the bombs being made on Bengal’s soil. A mellow Mamata today said “Bangladesh is our brother” amid reports that Dhaka is extremely concerned about alleged links between a politician in Bengal and extremist elements. The chief minister insisted that she never opposed a probe by the NIA and the media had construed her views on Centre-state relationship as a comment on the central agency. “We want the Centre to consult us. Consult na kore insult korbe eta hoy na (Not consulting means insulting us, this cannot happen). They have to work with the local administration. Our officers did a very good job. We will give full cooperation to the NIA,” Mamata said. The offer of cooperation is Mamata at the news conference. (Bibhash Lodh) a dramatic departure from what happened in Burdwan in the immediate aftermath of the blast on October 2. On one pretext or the other, central officers were allegedly not allowed access to the site and seized bombs were detonated in haste. A day after the Centre took the rare step of announcing on its own an NIA probe into the Burdwan blast, Mamata had posted on Facebook a statement that dwelt on Centre-state relations. No direct reference was made to the NIA but the timing was striking. “Nowadays, the Central Government tends to frequently and unnecessarily interfere in state matters…” the chief minister had posted. A senior minister said this evening: “It is obvious that she realises the gravity of the situation. There is not much that she can say in her defence. So, she attempted to give her side of the story without blaming others.” Not that she did not blame anyone. The chief minister said central agencies had failed to police the border properly, suggesting that she cannot be held responsible for terror modules sneaking into Bengal. State BJP president Rahul Sinha said tonight: “She broke her silence by saying that she had no problem with the NIA probe. But why was she silent so long? She is trying to cover up the mishandling of the Burdwan blast.” Police rot Earlier, a senior Bengal police officer told The Telegraph that departmental proceedings would be initiated against the team that had searched Rezaul Karim’s house in Burd- INBRIEF Windies call off tour ■The West Indies team have abandoned their tour of India following an internal dispute over payments, the BCCI has said. SPORT Food prize ■ India-born Mexican scientist Sanjaya Rajaram has been awarded the World Food Prize 2014. NATION P8 I’ve discovered I don’t suck at being a dad BRAD PITT HUMOUR The following is a joke, modelled on the rhyming dialogues of the Satyajit Ray movie Hirak Rajar Deshe, that some officials in Bengal have been forwarding to each other in the past few days. It proves that despite all the gloom, Bengal still enjoys a good laugh — true to the 19th-century poet Ishwar Gupta’s words: “Eto bhanga Bangadesh, tobu range bhara (So fragmented is Bengal, yet so full of fun).” An edited version of the joke and its translation follows: PORBO 1 thekey namta! ● Kutirey boshey boma banano-o toh ● Ki idea!! Ey bochhor kon ***** shilpo — thik kina Ostromontri? thyakachchhey tor Bangasree! ● Thik, thik! EPISODE 3 ● I say, researcher, why is it taking so long to make the bombs? ● With all due respect, My Queen, I’m very sorry. This is foreign technology! ● What then is the way, Minister of Weaponry? A crash course? ● Outsource instead. Invite the Jamaat and treat them as your son-in-law; that would bring down the Maoists and Marxists from calculus to the multiplication tables! ● What an idea!! Which (expletive) can stop you from becoming a Bangasree awardee this year! EPISODE 1 ● Making bombs sitting in a cottage too is an industry — isn’t that so, Minister of Weaponry? ● Right, right! PORBO 2 ● Boli ey gobeshok, tomar toh MP hobar khoob shaukh? ● Ami toh nogonyo, apni nominate korley dhonyo! ● Banao tobey ekkhan exclusive, improvised device explosive! EPISODE 2 ● You there, researcher, you seem to be longing to become an MP? ● I am insignificant, if you nominate me I shall be blessed! ● Then make an exclusive, improvised explosive device! PORBO 4 ● Ostromontri bomar toh stock gyalo ghetey? ● Agyey Ranima, tajagulo jey gyalo phetey! ● Taholey? Notun Jamaati daktey hobey naki? ● Ettu wait Maharani, Flipkart-ey dekhi. PORBO 3 ● Boli gobeshok, boma banatey eto kyano deri? EPISODE 4 ● Minister of Weaponry, so the stock of bombs is ruined? ● With all due respect, My Queen, the live ones exploded! ● Then? Do we need to call new Jamaat activists? ● Wait a little, O Great Queen, let me check on Flipkart. ● Egyey Ranima, I’m very sorry. Ey jey Biliti karigori! ● Ta’ley upaay Ostromontri? Crash course? ● Boroncho korey din outsource. Rajyey Jamaat-ke dekey korey rakhun jamata, Mao to Maku shape bodley calculus STATUTORY WARNING Those who circulate such heretical jokes, be warned. “Ke ki korchhe, ke ki bolchhe, sab amaar kaachhe khobor thake (who is doing what, who is saying what, I have every information),” chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday at Trinamul Bhavan below the rank of superintendent of police and deputy commissioner of police was done by Ghosh. Yardsticks such as efficiency and professionalism were thrown out of the window and loyalty became the sole factor,” said a retired IPS officer. The system received a fresh lease of life when Trinamul came to power, with Mukul Roy handling the police affairs. Compounding the problem was the chief minister’s tendency to interact directly with officers on the ground, which rendered the chain of command redundant. The upshot: the morale of the police force has hit an alltime low, according to several officers. Worse, many officers feel that the best course of action is to “let sleeping dogs lie” — a policy that draws least attention to themselves. Even if some officers want to act, they fear that vote-bank politics will ensure that they will be asked to go slow or look the other way. The worst example of working with blinkers on was in sight at the house with the bombs on Burdwan’s Badshahi Road. In power, Modi discovers virtues of treaties Bail for Jaya with rider ■ The Supreme Court has granted bail to Jayalalithaa and suspended her four-year sentence but set unprecedented conditions so she could not “drag” her appeal against her conviction. NATION P6 wan and returned emptyhanded on October 8. In the same house, the NIA and the NSG had yesterday found 39 home-made bombs. The move to punish the officers is being seen as an attempt to minimise the embarrassment of the state administration. “It is undoubtedly an embarrassment when the ruling establishment was claiming that the state police was good enough to carry out the investigation into the incident. Departmental proceedings will be initiated against those who had carried out the search on October 8. The process has started today,” the officer said. Four personnel from the CID, led by an inspector, and a team from Burdwan police, led by a DSP, had searched the house after it was revealed that one of the prime accused in the October 2 blast had been staying there. “All those policemen who had conducted the search in the house are responsible because it was their duty to scan the house properly. The gravity of the incident was clear by then,” the senior officer said. Departmental proceedings usually start with a showcause notice. If the reply is unsatisfactory, suspension or compulsory waiting is activated and a detailed investigation starts. But some police officers equated the penal proceedings to treating the symptom instead of the disease. They said that other than the wellknown problem of lack of professional expertise in searching for explosives, the state force is a victim of the rot that had set in long ago. “The ruling parties in Bengal always tried to use the police force as a weapon against rivals. The party in power has been interfering in matters like recruitment and transfer of officials, which over the years have weakened the force,” said an officer. The rot struck deep roots during the tenure of former chief minister Jyoti Basu, particularly after the formation of the third Left Front government in 1987, when his then confidential assistant Joykrishna Ghosh used to run the police show. “Posting and transfers IN A LAND BLESSED WITH Look who has a black eye and information can’t be disclosed unless a wrong-doing is found on the basis of an incomeNew Delhi, Oct. 17: The Narendra Modi governtax complaint,” the Modi government said. ment today urged the Supreme Court not to insist Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, on whose plea on disclosing the identity of Indians who had the court had set up a special investigation team, parked black money abroad, more or less echoing termed it as a “culprits’ affidavit” while the Conthe UPA and swallowing the barbs the BJP had gress weighed in by wondering what Modi would hurled at the Manmohan Singh government. do if someone filed a “cheating” case for The new government has said that public dis“hypocrisy”. closure of the names would affect India’s finanThe furore compelled finance minister Arun cial and diplomatic relations with several counJaitley to suggest that the names could be reArun Jaitley tries, including the US. vealed only when charges were filed in a court. The controversy brought to the fore the risk “Is the present NDA government led by Modi in parties run while levelling reckless charges when in Opposiany way reluctant to make some names public? Certainly not. tion, unmindful of the responsibilities, such as upholding We have no difficulty in making names public. But they can the law, that lie ahead when they assume power. be made public only in accordance with due process of law. The UPA had disclosed the names of certain individuals “And the due process of law has been constrained by but the Modi government has taken the stand that it would DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement) which was affect confidentiality agreements. entered into between India and Germany when the Congress “An immediate fallout would be that the Government of Party was in power on June 19, 1995,” he told reporters. India would not be able to sign the proposed inter-GovernJaitley said the “names can only be made public once mental Agreement (IGA) with the United States of America after investigation, there are disclosures made to court, that for the purposes of automatic exchange of information,” the is when charges are filed. Till such time when the investigaCentre said. tions are on, merely for reasons of propaganda, they can’t be The government said the agreement needed to be signed made public.” by December. Failure to do so will impose tax liabilities on InLawyer and former UPA minister Salman Khurshid said dian financial institutions, it added and warned of a finanthe NDA government should either “scrap” the agreements cial collapse as all international trade transactions are done with other nations in “national interest” over not disclosing in US dollars. The court has listed the matter for October 28. black money details or “apologise” for attacking the UPA gov“The right to privacy is an integral part of right to life ernment. TTMARKETS OUR BUREAU BSE SENSEX 26108.53 © 109.19 NSE NIFTY 7779.70 © 31.50 RS/$ 61.44 © 0.39 GOLD 27790 © 150 Nipped in the Mukul OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ■ Shankudeb Panda has been removed from the helm of the Trinamul students’ wing. ■ Soumitra Khan no longer heads Trinamul’s youth wing. ■ Ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Partha Chatterjee will be official spokespersons for the party in the state. ■ Abhishek Banerjee will lead the unified all-India Trinamul Yuva and Trinamul Youth Congress. No prizes for guessing who is missing from the roll call. Mukul Roy and his aides were the biggest losers and Mamata’s nephew the winner in the organisational changes signalled internally by Mamata Banerjee on Friday. “This was waiting to happen. Abhishek will now head the biggest frontal organisation in the party. Didi made it clear that Abhishek is now the Number Two in the party,” said a Trinamul source. The formal coronation of Abhishek, whose testy ties with Mukul is an open secret in Trinamul, as the party’s new face had taken place in New Delhi yesterday. Although Mukul was the only speaker other than Mamata at today’s closed-door meeting at Trinamul Bhavan, many seized upon what they felt were telltale signs that showed he no longer held a position of pre-eminence in the party. “Mukul-da was speaking on the electoral roll revision when the photographers were allowed to come in. There was chaos for some time and Mukul-da looked helpless,” Mukul Roy at the news conference. (Bibhash Lodh) said an MLA, portraying the episode as a sign of the undeclared shift of fortunes. “Although Mamata-di said that everyone should pay attention as roll revision is a matter of importance, it was clear that no one was willing to listen to Mukul-da and it summed up everything,” he added. Over the last couple of months, Mamata has been projecting Abhishek as the face of the party while he took on the likes of the BJP national president Amit Shah at public meetings and Subramanian Swamy on Facebook. In 2011, Mamata had formed the all-India Trinamul Yuva to provide a platform for her nephew. Trinamul sources said that with the merger of the party’s youth wing and Yuva, the role of Mukul’s son, the Bijpur MLA Subhrangshu, in the organisation is also uncertain. Subhrangshu was the working president of the state Trinamul Youth Congress. “Abhishek will pick his own team. It is unlikely that Subhrangshu can continue in his position,” said a Trinamul leader. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 ▼ Bomb house cops set to be made fall guys