A fresh political row has erupted in West Bengal after a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was attacked by villagers in East Midnapore district’s Bhupatinagar, where the security officials had gone on Saturday to investigate a 2022 bomb blast case in which three persons were killed. Hours after the incident, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the timing of the NIA’s raid and accused the officials of the anti-terror agency of attacking the villagers and not the other way around.
The Trinamool Congress supremo claimed that the probe agency team had gone to the houses of villagers in the early hours over an incident of “bursting of crackers in 2022”.
Mamata Questions ED’s Actions
“The attack was not carried out by women of Bhupatinagar, it was by the NIA,” she said at an election rally in South Dinajpur district’s Balurghat.
“Will the women sit back if they are attacked?” she said, adding that they had only protested after NIA officials went to some of their houses over the December 2022 incident.
Questioning the timing of the NIA’s action in 2 year old case, Banerjee said, “Why did they raid at midnight? Did they have police permission? Locals reacted in the way they would have if any other stranger had visited the place at midnight. Why are they arresting people right before the elections?”
#WATCH | Balurghat, Dakshin Dinajpur: After NIA officers faced protesters during probe in Bhupatinagar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “Why did they raid at midnight? Did they have police permission? Locals reacted in the way they would have if any other stranger had… pic.twitter.com/F1lbdJL1Qu— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2024
She further attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government for allegedly using the central probe agency for its political gain, saying, “What does the BJP think, that they will arrest every booth agent? What right does the NIA have? They are doing all these to support the BJP. We call upon the entire world to fight against this BJP’s dirty politics.”
“We want the Election Commission (EC) to work impartially, not turn into a BJP-run commission,” she said.
Questioning the transfer of the state’s police officers by the EC, she asked why the officers of ED, CBI and IT have not been changed.
“NIA, CBI are brothers of BJP; the ED and IT are funding boxes of BJP,” Banerjee said. “If you (BJP) have the power, win the election by fighting in a democratic manner. Don’t arrest my booth-level workers and election agents,” she said at the rally.
NIA Team Attacked In West Bengal
A vehicle carrying NIA officials was on Saturday attacked by villagers in Bhupatinagar, where they had gone to investigate a 2022 bomb blast case in which three persons were killed.
Later a spokesperson of the NIA said, “In a major breakthrough in West Bengal’s Bhupatinagar blast case, in which three persons were killed in December 2022, the NIA arrested two key conspirators amid stiff resistance from an unruly crowd in the state’s East Medinipore district.”
The duo — Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana — were arrested after extensive searches at five locations, including the house of Jana, where locals tried to obstruct the NIA team.
The crowd tried to stop the NIA team and its security component from moving towards the Bhupatinagar police station to complete the arrest formalities. The NIA has lodged a complaint at the local police station in this regard.
The NIA spokesperson said Jana and Maity were found to have conspired to manufacture and explode crude bombs to spread terror.
Incident Brings Back Memories Of Sandeshkhali Attack
Saturday’s incident brought back memories of January 5 when three officials of the Enforcement Directorate were attacked by a mob in North 24 Parganas district’s Sandeshkhali during a search on the premises of then Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system.
BJP Demands Removal Of 5 Senior Police Officials
Following the incident, the BJP approached the Election Commission demanding the removal of five senior police officials. In a letter to the Chief Election Officer (CEO), the party said today’s incident seems to be a repeat of what happened in Sandeshkhali a couple of months back.
“In light of these grave developments, we demand immediate and decisive action be taken by the Commission by removing the following officers– OC Bhupatinagar Police Station, SDPO Contai, SP Purba Medinipur District, ADG Law & Order, DG & IG of West Bengal,” the party said.
“The above officers have shown beyond doubt their complete alliance with the party in power, TMC since the people being taken in custody by the NIA were TMC goons,” it added.
2022 Bomb Blast Case
Three persons were killed when an explosion ripped apart the kutcha house of Rajkumar Manna in Bhupatinagar on December 3, 2022. Rajkumar Manna, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna were grievously injured in the blast and later died.
The state police initially registered an FIR on December 3, 2022, against the three men killed in the explosion but the provisions of the Explosive Substances Act were not applied. Subsequently, a writ petition was filed before the Calcutta High Court with a prayer for transferring the case to the NIA.
The NIA took over the case on June 4, 2023, on the high court’s order dated March 21, 2023, and re-registered a case under various sections of law, including the Explosive Substances Act.
During the investigation, the NIA uncovered the role of several other accused in the case, including Manobrata Jana of Naruabila village and Balai Charan Maity of Ninaruya Analberia.
The two men had actively participated in the conspiracy to make crude bombs and extended support for the same, the NIA found in its probe, which led to searches and arrests on Saturday.
(With Inputs From ANI and PTI)
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