Team News Riveting
Kolkata, January 5
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose took a strong exception on the unprecedented violence against Enforcement Directorate officers.
In a strongly worded statement, the Governor put the state administration in the dock and warned the Mamata Banerjee government of “Constitutional consequences” if it “failed to act effectively” in response to the attack carried out on the central agency, the CRPF and the media personnel in Sandeshkhali on Friday.
“It is a ghastly incident. It is alarming and deplorable. It is the duty of a civilized government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If a government fails in its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will take its course. As a Governor I reserve all my Constitutional options at my disposal for appropriate action,” the Governor said.
The Governor also summoned state chief secretary BP Gopalika, home secretary Nandini Chakraborty and DGP Rajeev Kumar to the Raj Bhavan, perceptively to explain the genesis of the trouble and the action planned against the perpetrators.
Incidentally, Bose’s statement and decision to summon the state’s administration top brass came within hours after Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay observed in court as to why “the Governor wasn’t declaring that the Constitutional framework of the state had collapsed”.
Earlier in the day, search team officials of the Enforcement Directorate were attacked, mercilessly assaulted and forced to flee for their lives while attempting to conduct a raid at the residence of Shahjahan Sheikh, a Trinamul Congress leader and close aide of an arrested minister in the Sandeshkhali area of North 24 Parganas on Friday morning. The unprecedented development is likely to have far reaching political consequences. The mob also attacked the CRPF personnel escorting the team.
Being outnumbered, the jawans preferred to keep cool and did not retaliate harshly even in self-defence. The officials received head injuries and took auto rikshaws to flee from the spot as the mob ransacked the vehicles.
“Horrific. The law and order situation in West Bengal is in shambles. ED officials and CRPF jawans brutally attacked in Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas while conducting raid at TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s house. I doubt that Rohingyas are present amongst the anti-national attackers,” Suivendu Adhikari, leader of Opposition in the Bengal Assembly wrote on X (Formerly Twitter).
Till evening, after about eight hours after the incident, no arrest was reported by the police.
