Small arms including foreign-made pistols seized by CBI in raids in Sandeshkhali
New Delhi: New Delhi: A day after registering an FIR against five accused in a case linked to the land grab and assault on women, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday conducted raids at multiple locations in Sandeshkhali and recovered foreign-made weapons and a large cache of ammunition, officials in the agency said.
They told The New Indian Express that Friday's raids were conducted as part of the agency's probe into a case of an attack on an Enforcement Directorate team by a mob allegedly instigated by local TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh.
Giving details of the recoveries during the raids, officials in the agency said, the CBI team seized three foreign-made revolvers, one Indian revolver, one colt official Police revolver, one foreign made pistol, one country made pistol, 9 mm bullets in 120 in mumber, .45 calibre cartridges 50 in number, 9 mm calibre cartridges 120 in number, .380 cartridges 50 in number and .32 cartridges eight in number.
The ED team was attacked in Sandeshkhali - a riverine delta bordering the Sundarbans - on January 5 when they had gone to raid the premises of Sheikh in connection with an alleged ration scam. During the attack, one ED official sustained an injury. The vehicle the team was travelling in was also damaged.
The officials said that the CBI during its probe got information that a large cache of arms being hidden in Sandeshkhali.
"On Friday morning, a CBI team started a search operation during which the arms, including foreign-made pistols, were seized," a senior official said.
On the orders of the Calcutta High Court, the central agency had registered three FIRs related to the incident of the attack on ED officials on January 5.
Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 in connection with the attack.
After the attack by a mob of around 1,000 people in which three ED officials were injured, a deputy director of the agency had given a complaint to the superintendent of police, Basirhat.
The owner of the house, identified as Abu Taleb Mollah, is a relative of Sheikh, sources in the CBI said, adding that it was not clear why such a huge cache of arms and ammunition, and explosives were stacked inside the house.
The house, which was cordoned off by security forces, was built amid water bodies used for fish farming. Central forces were used metal detectors outside the house to check whether more arms and ammunition were buried. A robotic device was also deployed for the purpose.
(With PTI inputs.)