Bengal ration scam: While ED officials were on their route to raid the homes of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and Shankar Adhya in North 24 Parganas, they were ambushed.

About an alleged ration distribution scam in West Bengal, the Enforcement Directorate detained Shankar Adhya, the former chairman of Bongaon Municipality, early on Saturday morning.

On their way to raid the homes of Trinamool Congress politicians Sheikh Shahjahan and Shankar Adhya about the ration issue earlier on Thursday night, ED agents were ambushed in the North 24 Parganas district.

Adhya was allegedly seen being driven away by ED officers in a car while a sizable throng gathered around it in videos released by news organizations. According to news agency ANI, an ED team stormed Adhya’s father-in-law’s home on Friday night.

Sheikh Shahjahan is the Block President of Sandeshkhali 1 and the North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad’s officer for fisheries and animal resources.

The four-wheeler’s glass panes were broken when stones were thrown at the car carrying the ED officials. Three agency representatives were hurt in the event.

As the mob marched towards ED authorities with the intent to kill, three cops suffered serious injuries. The ED added in a statement that other officers had to flee the scene of the event without completing a search to save their lives because the crowd turned aggressive.

The 800-1,000-person crowd, according to the agency, attacked ED officials and 27 accompanying paramilitary personnel with sticks, stones, and bricks while yelling anti-government slogans. The agency had already arrested state food minister Jyotipriyo Mullick in October in connection with the case. The statement also stated the ED vehicles had significant damage. Mullick has an associate named Sheikh.

A top ED official stated, “We are taking legal opinion,” and added that the event was reported to the Union home ministry.

Following a wave of condemnation over the extraordinary attack, state governor CV Ananda Bose called for a report on the incident, calling Chief Secretary BP Gopalika, Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, and Director General of police Rajiv Kumar.

Under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that peace and order was disintegrating in the state. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters in Delhi, “TMC goons and Rohingyas, who infiltrated Bengal, attacked the ED personnel, who were conducting a probe. West Bengal’s jungle rule continues right beneath Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nose.

Nisith Pramanik, the union minister of state for home affairs, called the incident an assault on the country’s federal system and the Constitution. “I disapprove of what transpired in Sandeshkhali. No topic is more disdainful than criticizing a federal agency that is visiting a state. It’s an assault on the entire Constitution, not just a team in a central agency, he declared.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a senior Congressman and the head of the opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed he wouldn’t be shocked if an official in the state was “murdered” in the future.

The TMC refuted the accusations, claiming that the scenario was caused by central agency officials inciting the people.

SOURCE: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ed-arrests-former-bongaon-municipality-chairman-shankar-adhya-in-bengal-ration-case-report-101704505499936.html