KOLKATA: Four officers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) were injured in an attack allegedly by the supporters of the Trinamool Congress on Friday morning when they arrived at Sandeshkhali, in North 24-Parganas to search the house of a local TMC leader in connection with an alleged foodgrain scam which has already thrown the former food and supplies minister Jyoti Priya Mallick behind the bars.
The officers of the central agency, which is probing a number of cases, in which several TMC functionaries are allegedly involved, had to run away and board an auto-rickshaw to leave the spot after the personnel of the Central Armed Police Force(CRPF), who were accompanying the sleuths, fled facing the attack. Later, the ED officers were taken to a nearby transit point of a riverine route from where they left in a launch owned by the local police.
Sources in the central agency said, the followers of Shahjahan Sheikh, a local leader of the ruling party, turned violent when the officers of the investigating agency attempted to break open the locks of the door to get access inside the house surrounded by the central police force personnel, who were also manhandled. Vehicles of the ED were vandalised in the attack.
Condemning the attack on the sleuths of the federal agency, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose hit out at the Bengal government for failing to contain the law and order situation in the state. In a stern message to the TMC-led government, Bose said he would explore his constitutional options and take appropriate action.
According to ED sources, a team of four sleuths reached the house of Shahjahan, known for his close proximity with Mallick, around 7 am.
“The two collapsible gate was locked from inside and we repeatedly pressed the door-bell for 30 minutes but there was no response from inside. As a result, we decided to break in. The locals and Shahjahan’s followers started assembling as the central force personnel started hitting the locks to break it. Before we could realise the intention of the assembly of locals, they attacked us with fists and blows. One of our officers got his head injured. Finding no way out, we had no option left other than fleeing,” said an ED officer.
In his sharp reaction, Governor Bose said, “The ghastly incident reported from Sandeshkhali is alarming and deplorable. It is the bounden duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a government fails in its basic duty then the Constitution of India will take its course. As governor, I will explore all my constitutional options for appropriate action.”
Referring to the incident as a "pre-election violence", Bose said, “I would like to assure the people that jungle raj and goonda raj will work in a fool’s paradise, not in Bengal. It is not a banana republic. This early pre-election violence will and should find an early end. It is the beginning of that end. The sole responsibility of violence in society lies with the government…The perpetrators of violence and more so their political abettors will soon be made to realise that you can fool some people all the time and all people sometimes but not all the people all the time. It is high time we stop violence in Bengal."
Describing the incident as “horrific”, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention to take action. He alleged that Rohingyas, Muslim refugees from Myanmar were among the attackers. BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar alleged Shahjahan and his followers are anti-national.
TMC minister Shashi Panja said the ruling party has no intention to disturb ED’s investigation. “The central agency should have informed the state police before raiding the place. If they wanted to maintain secrecy, they could have informed the chief secretary. The central agency has done the raid keeping the state machinery in dark to malign the state government,” she said.
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