West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Friday said he was satisfied by the explanation given by senior state government officials on the delay in arresting TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh for the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid, news agency PTI reported. Bose, however, did not reveal much about his meeting with the senior government officials for the sake of the ongoing investigation.
"What they conveyed to me is the considered opinion of the state government on certain burning issues which are vexing us, particularly in the background of the harassment of the Enforcement Directorate. They have given me some valuable inputs since the investigation is going on, I would like to keep it confidential", PTI quoted Bose as saying.
Chief Secretary BP Gopalika, Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and DGP Rajiv Kumar held a meet with Bose at the Raj Bhavan and briefed him on the investigation of the Sandeshkhali incident.
According to PTI, Bose said, "My statement is on record and the reasons why it is delayed has been explained to me I am convinced and since the investigation is on, I don't want to reveal the details".
Bose had asked the state government to brief him about the proceedings in the ration scam and called the three senior officials to meet him in this regard, reported PTI.
The governor then turned to the state government to submit a report on why was Shahjahan not arrested, it also asked to clarify whether he was in India or crossed the borders. He instructed the state government to fix the responsibility for the failure of the law and order machinery and also to punish police officers who failed in their duties.
On January 5, three ED officers were assaulted and their vehicles damaged allegedly by supporters of TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh when they tried to raid his residence at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district in connection with their probe into the ration distribution scam.