Bengal Minister Warns Of 'Similar Incidents' After Attacks On ED Officials, BJP Slams Remark

On January 5, three ED officers sustained injuries, and several of their vehicles were vandalized as a large group of supporters of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh attacked them.

File photo of state Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay. ( Image Source :PTI )

New Delhi: West Bengal minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay on Tuesday said that the recent attack on ED officers during a raid in North 24 Parganas was a result of an “explosion of public grievance”.

He further stirred controversy with his statement that such attacks will take place in other parts of the country, too, where probe agencies conduct raids, reported news agency PTI.

“We have seen the explosion of public grievance at one place in the state… Such incidents will happen at other places in India as well in future," said state Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

Earlier on January 5, three officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sustained injuries, and several of their vehicles were vandalized as a large group of supporters of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh attacked them. This incident occurred when the team went to conduct a raid at his residence in Sandeshkhali in connection with alleged irregularities in the state's ration system.

Chattopadhyay further asserted that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has unearthed scams worth several crores of rupees in the present BJP-led regime at the Centre, but the party sends probe agencies to only non-BJP states.

“The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has stated that there had been financial irregularities worth several crores of rupees during the current BJP regime. Where does Seikh Sajahan stand in that? The activities of the central agencies are restricted in those states where the opposition is in power,” Chattopadhyay said, reported IANS.

However, BJP MP Dilip Ghosh dismissed the minister's allegations and said that the TMC government must be immediately uprooted from power to save the people of West Bengal.

Another local BJP leader demanded the arrest of Chattopadhyay for his comments against central agencies.

Left Front leader Sujon Chakraborty said that Chattopadhyay was trying to score political points with such statements.