E-Paper
Bengal cops arrest two more for attacking ED officials; no trace of TMC leader
A team of ED officials were attacked during a raid at the residence of a Trinamool Congress leader at Sandeshkhali on January 5
West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district police arrested two more persons on Sunday in connection with the January 5 attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials during a raid at the residence of a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader at Sandeshkhali, police officials said.
“The two suspects were identified as Ali Hossain Gharami and Sanjay Mondal. They were held from the district’s Minakhan and Nazat areas respectively and produced before the Basirhat court,” a police official said on condition of anonymity.
With this, the number of arrests has gone up to four although the TMC leader, Sheikh Shahjahan, who has been accused by opposition parties of instructing local villagers to attack the ED team, could not be traced till Sunday evening.
Three ED officials were admitted in hospital with multiple injuries after they somehow managed to flee Sandeshkhali on January 5. Their vehicles were ransacked despite the presence of armed central paramilitary personnel escorting the ED team. Media persons covering the raid were attacked too.
ED officials said Sheikh Shahjahan is a suspect in the alleged public distribution system scam in which the federal agency arrested former food minister Jyotipriya Mallick on October 27. Mallick is currently in judicial custody.
The North 24 Parganas district police are conducting investigations against the ED officials as well on the basis of complaints lodged by the villagers.
The police registered a case based on a complaint lodged by Didar Baksh Mollah, the caretaker of the TMC leader’s house. Mollah alleged that a sum of ₹1.35 lakh and some documents were stolen during raid although the ED team members claimed they could not even enter the house because it was locked from inside.
The police also pressed charges against the ED officials under sections 354 (assault on woman to outrage modesty), 447 (criminal trespass) and 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The FIR was registered at the Nazat police station.
ED moved the Calcutta high court on January 10 challenging the FIR.
On January 11, the single bench of justice Rajasekhar Mantha ordered an interim stay on the police proceedings till March 31. The court will hear the matter again on January 22.
Rahul Sinha, former state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at the TMC government alleging that police were shielding Sheikh Shahjahan.
“The police are hoodwinking citizens of Bengal by arresting some small fries while Sheikh Shahjahan has gone scot-free. He is being shielded,” Sinha said.
TMC’s state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said: “Police are doing their best to arrest those who allegedly attacked the ED officials. Although BJP leaders have targeted Sheikh Shahjahan, the federal agency has not officially announced what charges he faces.”
