ED arrests TMC leader, faces mob fury again; FIR against ED by WB police for raid
Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) faced a second round of mob fury early Saturday when it arrested a Trinamul Congress leader after questioning him during a marathon raid at his residence in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal in the ration scam.
This time, the central agency, after learning a lesson from the violent mob attack on its raiding team on Friday morning at the house of absconding TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh of Sandeshkhali of the district, acted swiftly and escaped injuries.
The arrested accused, Shankar Adhya, is former chairman of the Bongaon Municipality. Like Mr Sheikh, he is also a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick, now in jail custody in the same case. His address and that of Mr Sheikh were raided by ED on Friday morning.
While one ED team fled with injuries from Mr Sheikh's house after the mob attack, another continued its task without any interruption. The scene however changed at around 12.30 am on Saturday when Mr Adhya was taken out of home in Bongaon after his arrest.
His followers gathered on the road in large numbers, armed with sticks to resist the ED from taking him away. They also pelted stones on a car of the ED which immediately whisked away Mr Adhya to CGO Complex in Salt Lake with the help of the central forces.
His wife, Jyotsna Adhya, claimed “My husband is innocent. He had no role in the scam and was falsely implicated in the case. I heard from an ED officer that Mr Mullick earlier took my husband's name during interrogation which led to his arrest.”
The ED however accused Mr Adhya of illegally transacting nearly ₹20,000 crores overseas to convert them into dollars through 90 foreign exchange dealers in the last 10 years after it produced him before a PMLA judge at the Bankshall Court.
Out of ₹20,000 crores, ₹10,000 crores belonged to Mr Mullick, according to ED. Mr Adhya's lawyer countered the allegations and argued that his client has been into forex trading abiding by the law. The court later remanded Mr Adhya in 14-day ED custody.
Meanwhile, the ED team, that had raided Mr Sheikh's house, has been booked in an FIR on non-bailable charges at the Nyajat police station in Basirhat after the building's caretaker, who is an employee of Mr Sheikh, lodged a complaint against the central agency.
The complainant alleged that the ED did not have any warrant, tried to break into the property, stole items and molested women. A case was initiated under section 354 (molestation), 379 (theft) and 441 (illegal trespass) of the Indian Penal Code.
It came after the ED lodged an FIR against Mr Sheikh and his followers of attacking it's team. The third FIR is a suo moto against the attack on the mediapersons and stopping public servants from discharging their duty. The ED also issued a look out circular against Mr Sheikh at all airports suspecting his escape to Bangladesh.
