After Attack on ED, Stones Thrown at Another Central Probe Agency in Bengal. Officers Went to Arrest 2 TMC Leaders

A National Investigative Agency (NIA) team, who had gone to Bhupatinagar in West Bengal’s East Midnapore on Saturday morning to investigate a 2022 blast case at a Trinamool Congress leader’s house, was attacked by villagers and bricks were thrown at a car of the investigative agency’s team.

The officials earlier this morning arrested two local TMC leaders, identified as Manobrata Jana and Balachandra Maity, in connection to the bomb blast case and were on their way back to Kolkata, when the vehicle came under attack.

As per primary inputs, one of the cars was damaged. “Locals gheraoed the vehicle and pelted stones at it. The NIA has said one of its officers was also injured,” a senior police official said. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also lodged a police complaint in this regard, he added.

Election Commission Seeks Report on Attack

The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday sought a report from West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer over the attack on the attack on the NIA team in the state.

The NIA had asked eight Trinamool Congress leaders to appear before its officers  on Saturday, for questioning in connection with a blast at Bhupatinagar in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district in 2022. The leaders had skipped the earlier summons that directed them to visit the NIA office at Kolkata’s New Town on March 28.

Meanwhile, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that the opposition BJP is behind the NIA move.

After NIA officers faced protesters during probe in Bhupatinagar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “Why did they raid at midnight? Did they have police permission? Locals reacted in the way they would have if any other stranger had visited the place at midnight. Why are they arresting people right before the elections? What does the BJP think, that they will arrest every booth agent? What right does NIA have? They are doing all these to support the BJP. We call upon the entire world to fight against this BJP’s dirty politics.”

West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took to X to condemn the attack on the NIA officials. He said that the Law and Order structure of West Bengal has crumbled completely.

BJP leader Locket Chatterjee also strongly criticized the attack at Midnapore on Saturday. Calling it ‘outrageous’, the BJP candidate from West Bengal’s Hooghly said ‘this blatant disregard for law and order is unacceptable’.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress has sought an urgent appointment with Election Commission of India (ECI) over the misuse of central agencies like NIA.

On December 3, 2022, an explosion ripped apart a kutcha house with a thatched roof in Bhupatinagar, killing three people.

Three persons were killed in the December 2022 explosion in the house of one Rajkumar Manna in Naruabilla village, East Medinipur, West Bengal. Manna himself was seriously in the blast, along with two others, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna. All three succumbed to their injures later.

The NIA took over the 2022 blast case on  June 4, 2023 and re-registered it as RC 16/2023/NIA/DLI under various sections of law, including the Explosive Substances Act.

During the course of the investigation, NIA uncovered the role of several other accused in the case, including the arrested accused, Manobrata Jana of village Naruabila, and Balai Charan Maity of Ninaruya Analberia. The two men had actively participated in the conspiracy to make crude bombs and had extended support for the same, NIA had found in its probe, which led to the recent searches and arrests.

The arrested accused will be produced before the Special NIA Court, Kolkata, as per law.