NIA team attacked in Bengal's East Midnapore district
What's the story
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team was reportedly attacked during a raid in Bhupatinagar in West Bengal's East Midnapore district on Saturday morning. The team had arrived there to investigate a 2022 blast case at a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader's residence when their vehicle was attacked with bricks, damaging the windshield. An official was also injured in the attack.
Local police station
Local police station informed beforehand about raid
According to India Today, the local police station was informed of the raid beforehand, but no necessary security measures were implemented. The case pertains to an explosion at a house in Bhupatinagar on December 3, 2022, which killed three people. Last month, the NIA summoned eight TMC leaders for questioning in relation to the blast. The investigative agency summoned the eight to appear before its agents after they ignored an earlier summons to visit the NIA office on March 28.
BJP
BJP behind the move: TMC's Kunal Ghosh
The NIA has filed a complaint at the local police station against one Manabendra Jana and other unnamed persons. Meanwhile, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was behind the move. He alleged that the BJP has provided a list of TMC leaders from Purba Medinipur district to the NIA, which is planning to arrest them.
Twitter Post
Video of the attack
VIDEO | A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was attacked at Bhupatinagar in West #Bengal's
East #Midnapore district earlier today. More details are awaited.
(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/33STLQLPcP — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 6, 2024
Past incident
Previous attack on Enforcement Directorate officials
A few months prior to this incident, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials were also attacked by a mob during a raid at a TMC leader's residence in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali. The TMC leader was later revealed to be Sheikh Shahjahan, who has been arrested for alleged sexual assault and land-grabbing in Sandeshkhali. The ED officials were investigating a multi-crore ration distribution scam. Notably, another TMC leader, Jyotipriya Mallick, is also implicated in the multi-crore ration distribution scam.