Stay alert and stop terror: Mamata Banerjee at rally

In the wake of terrorists being arrested in Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during her rally at Gosaba in South 24 Parganas on Thursday, warned people to be alert about strangers seen in the area, trying to entice people into illegal activities.

"They bring a lot of money with them and will try to lure you into doing all sorts of illegal activities. They will pretend to be your friends. This is a bordering area and you need to be alert. Your area will be fine," she said addressing a public rally after an administrative meeting. At the same time, she was quick to add, "Don't take law into your hands. If you find any stranger in the area, ask for his or her identity card and then if need be, inform the police. To the police officials I must ask to take prompt and necessary actions against any such complaints."

With an eye at the panchayat polls next year, she inaugurated a slew of welfare projects and warned her party leaders of the area not to indulge in faction clashes.

Firing fresh salvos at BJP and the CPI (M), Mamata said that neither the BJP at the Centre nor the CPI(M) who were in power for 34 years, were bothered about the well-being of the people here. "The BJP had stopped senior citizen pension for about 2.5 lakh people but we have allotted Rs 268 crore from our state funds so that pension is not stopped," she said.