An injured official of the Enforcement Directorate eam being taken to a hospital after he was attacked during a raid in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, in North 24 Parganas on January 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has sought a detailed report from the West Bengal government in connection with the attacks on Enforcement Directorate (ED) teams last week, sources said.
Three ED officials were attacked by a mob when they went to Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on January 5 to search the premises of ruling Trinamool Congress’s Shajahan Sheikh in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system (PDS). A second ED team was attacked and their vehicle damaged during the arrest of another TMC leader, Shankar Adhya, in Bongaon on the same day. The TMC has charged the ED officials with inciting the local people leading to the situation.
‘ED scripting drama’
On Tuesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that Central probe agencies were “scripting dramas” to conduct raids at the houses of TMC leaders as the BJP-led Centre was scared of her party.
“They are thinking that by arresting TMC leaders, they will be able to vacate the area and the BJP will have an open ground to play,” Ms. Banerjee said at a programme in South 24 Parganas district’s Joynagar. But winning elections will not be that easy, she said, adding that the TMC “will not give an inch of land without a fight”.
Acting ED Director Rahul Navin, meanwhile, visited the State to take stock of the situation. Mr. Navin will review the probe into the alleged irregularities in PDS and paddy procurement in West Bengal and discuss the security concerns of the local ED establishment. He is also likely to call on Governor C.V. Ananda Bose at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, the sources added.