Kolkata (TIP)- A team of officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attempting to raid the house of a local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader in West Bengal was attacked by a hundreds-strong mob on Friday, January 5, morning, triggering a Centre vs state row and deepening cracks within the Opposition alliance.
At least three ED officers sustained injuries after they were chased by the mob and pelted with bricks and stones at Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district while trying to search the premises of Shahjahan Sheikh, the local TMC convener, in connection with a multi-crore ration distribution scam.
“Three officers have suffered grievous injuries as the mob has marched towards ED officials with an intention to cause death… other officers had to escape from the place of the incident without conducting search to save their lives as the mob became very violent,” ED said in a statement. The agency — which already arrested state food minister Jyotipriyo Mullickin October in connection with the case — said that the mob comprising 800-1,000 people attacked ED officials and 27 accompanying paramilitary personnel with sticks, stones and bricks, while shouting slogans against the agency and the central government. ED vehicles were also badly damaged, the statement added. Sheikh is an associate of Mullick.
“We are taking legal opinion,” said a senior ED official, adding that the Union home ministry was informed of the incident.
The unprecedented attack prompted a wave of condemnation, with state governor CV Ananda Bose summoning chief secretary BP Gopalika, home secretary Nandini Chakraborty and director general of police Rajiv Kumarseeking a report on the matter.
“The sole responsibility for the wanton violence lies with the (state) government. If government fails in its basic duty then the Constitution of India will definitely take its course. As governor, I reserve all my constitutional options for appropriate action at the appropriate moment,” Bose said in a video message.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said law and order was coming apart in the state on chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s watch. Addressing reporters in?Delhi, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, “The ED officers, who were carrying out an investigation, came under attack by TMC goons and Rohingyas, who infiltrated Bengal. Jungle Raj is prevailing in West Bengal under the very nose of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.”
Union minister of state for home Nisith Pramanik termed the incident an attack on the Constitution and the nation’s federal structure. “I condemn what happened in Sandeshkhali. No issue could be more contemptuous than attacking a central agency going to a state. It’s not just an attack on the team of a central agency but on the entire Constitution,” he said.
He found surprising support from the Congress, an ally of the TMC as part of the 28-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the Lok?Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that he would not be surprised if any official is “murdered” in the state in the future. “After the attack by goons of the ruling government on ED officials, it is clear that there is no law and order in the state. Today, they were injured, tomorrow they can be murdered. Such a thing would not come as a surprise to me,” he said.