KOLKATA: Four Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers were brutally assaulted and left bleeding allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers when the ED team attempted to search the house of TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan at Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas district on Friday morning. The vehicles of the ED sleuths were also damaged and the violent mob even chased away personnel of the Central Armed Police Force who were accompanying the ED team.
The unprecedented attack evoked a sharp reaction from Governor C V Ananda Bose, who warned the Mamata Banerjee-led government that Constitutional options will come into play if the ‘barbarism’ continues, while the opposition demanded President’s rule in view of the breakdown of law and order. Condemning the ghastly attack, Governor Bose said such ‘pre-election violence’ will end soon. “This is the beginning of that end,” he said. Sources said the governor has summoned the chief secretary and home secretary to the Raj Bhavan for an urgent meeting.
The ED search was in connection with the multi-crore ration scam. Sheikh is a close aide of former food supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick, already arrested by the ED in connection with the same case. According to sources, the ED officers were taken aback by the attack and had to run. They left behind their damaged vehicles and escaped in auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers. The CAPF personnel were outnumbered and fled the scene when the mob manhandled them. Later, the ED sleuths reached a riverine route and left in a police boat.
Sources said supporters of Sheikh, a local TMC leader, turned violent when the ED team tried to break open the locks of the door to go inside the house. Explaining the events leading to the attack, an ED official said the four-member team reached Sheikh’s house around 7 am. “The gates were locked from inside. We pressed the bell for 30 minutes, but there was no response. So, we decided to break in. Sheikh’s followers started assembling when the CAPF personnel started breaking the locks. The crowd suddenly attacked us. One of our officers sustained a deep a head injury. We had no other option than fleeing.”
The ED has filed a complaint with the local police for registration of an FIR. Meanwhile, the TMC said the ED should have informed the police about the raid. “If they wanted secrecy, they could have informed the chief secretary,” said minister Shashi Panja.
ED raids firm linked to Sharad Pawar’s grand nephew Rohit The Enforcement Directorate on Friday searched the premises of Baramati Agro, owned by MLA Rohit Pawar, the grand nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and linked entities as part of a money laundering probe into the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam. At least six locations in Baramati, Pune, Pimpri and Aurangabad, official sources said
