Attack on ED sleuths: BJP files PIL in Calcutta HC

Kolkata : The West Bengal unit of the BJP on Monday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court seeking its intervention in the matter of the attack on ED and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on Friday.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya admitted the petition and the matter will come up for hearing on January 11.

The move by the party comes just a day after the state BJP president and Lok Sabha member Dr Sukanta Majumdar handed over a memorandum to Governor CV Ananda Bose seeking his intervention in the matter.

Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the matter.

On Friday night, the ED had also issued a press notification claiming that there was an orchestrated attack on its officials and the CAPF men when Trinamool Congress leader Sajahan Sheikh was inside his residence in front of which the attack took place.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress state spokesman has said that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe is going on against one of the three ED officials attacked on Friday.

“We do not want any ED official to be injured in any attack. We wish them speedy recovery. However, an explosive information has surfaced that a CBI probe is going on against ED’s Assistant Director Rajkumar Ram, one of the three officers injured on the day,” Ghosh said.

He also alleged that there are charges against the official concerned regarding assets disproportionate to known source of income, during the period between 2016 and 2020. “How, could such an officer be included in the central investigative team?” Ghosh questioned.