A team of officers of the Enforcement Directorate were attacked on Friday morning during a raid on a Trinamool Congress leader’s residence at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal North 24 Parganas district.
| Photo Credit: X@SuvenduWB
A team of officers of the Enforcement Directorate were attacked on Friday morning during a raid on a Trinamool Congress leader’s residence at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal North 24 Parganas district.
The ED officers accompanied by a few personnel of central forces were conducting raids on the house of Shahjahan Sheikh, a local Trinamool leader when hundreds of locals overpowered them. The ED team was trying to open the gates of the house of the local Trinamool leader when the mob turned violent. ED was conducting raids in connection with the irregularities in the public distribution system. State Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick was arrested by the ED in connection with the scam last year.
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The officers who were in the team sustained injuries and several vehicles carrying central forces were ransacked. The media persons who were accompanying the ED team were not spared either. Several media persons were attacked and their cameras and other equipment were broken. ED officers, jawans of central security forces and media persons had to flee Sandeshkhali. The mob who attacked the ED officials and media persons said that they were supporters of Mr. Sheikh and raised slogans against ED. At one point, the ED officers tried to flee officers using the vehicle of media persons but the vehicle was intercepted and attacked.
The ED is investigating several scams in the State including the teachers recruitment scam, PDS scam and has questioned several leaders of the ruling establishment including Abhishek Banerjee. This is the first time that ED officers were attacked in the State. Shahjahan Sheikh is an influential leader of Trinamool from Sancdeshkhali block in North 24 Parganas considered close to the arrested Minister. Allegations against him had also surfaced during the panchayat elections 2023.
The attack evoked sharp reactions from the Opposition. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said that the law and order situation in the State was in shambles.
“ED Officials & CRPF Jawans brutally attacked in Sandeshkhali; North 24 Parganas district, while conducting Raid at TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s house. I doubt that Rohingyas are present amongst the Anti National attackers. I urge Hon’ble Union Home Minister; Shri @AmitShahJi, @HMOIndia, @BengalGovernor, @dir_ed, Director @crpfindia to take cognizance of this grave situation and take appropriate action to crush this anarchy @NIA_India should also probe the matter,” Mr. Adhikari posted on ‘X’.
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Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nitish Pramanik described the attack on ED as “ very painful” and said that on several occasions teams of central agencies are attacked in the State.
Trinamool Congress leadership said that the incident was result of “continuos provocation on the part of central agencies at the behest of the BJP”.
“They ( Central agencies) are daily going to Trinamool leader houses and provoking local people. In Sandeshkhali same thing happened. We urge the people of Sandeshkhali not to fall in the trap of central agencies,” Trinamool Congress spookesperson Kunal Ghosh said.