ED conducts raids in several areas of West Bengal over sand smuggling racket
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Kolkata (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday launched a series of coordinated raids at over 20 locations spread across West Bengal, including Kolkata, targeting individuals and businesses found to be allegedly involved in a sand smuggling racket, a senior official said.
Raids were being carried out in several areas, including Behala, Regent Park, Bidhannagar, and Kalyani, in connection with the scam, he said.
The ED officials conducting the raids were accompanied by a large number of personnel of the central security forces.
At the centre of the operation was Sheikh Jahirul, a prominent figure in the racket in Jhargram district of West Bengal. ED sleuths were conducting searches at his sprawling residence located near Subarnarekha River in Gopiballavpur, he added.
"Searches were underway at Jahirul's residence, office and vehicles. He is accused of being heavily involved in the illegal sand extraction and trade business," the official said, adding that a huge amount of cash was seized from his premises.
Incidentally, Jahirul, who owns several sand mines, used to be a bicycle mechanic before working as a village police officer and ultimately transitioning into the sand trade, he added.
The ED officials are simultaneously raiding properties and offices of other sand mine owners in Beliaberia and Jamboni blocks in Jhargram district.
"The operation is focused on uncovering the financial networks tied to the illicit sand trade. We suspect that a significant amount of money from the racket has been funnelled into various insurance companies and business ventures," he said.
ED sleuths are combing through business records, financial documents, and properties linked to key figures in the operation, he added.
In Kolkata, officials from the central agency were conducting searches at two offices of a mining company -- one located in Behala and another in Salt Lake Sector 5.
"Our officials have seized several bank accounts and other documents during the raid. They are also cross-checking the company's accounts and speaking with the employees present," he said, adding that they were also searching the residences of the owners of the company.
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Media dinner shooting suspect wrote about targeting of administration officials, Trump says
Washington (AP): The man accused of trying to storm the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with guns and knives had written about targeting Trump administration officials, and his family raised concerns with law enforcement before the event, President Donald Trump said Sunday in an interview on Fox News Channel.
The accused gunman's family had alerted police in Connecticut, Trump said, revealing new details about a chaotic encounter that disrupted one of Washington's glitziest annual events the night before.
The suspect, identified by law enforcement officials as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, was expected to face criminal charges on Monday from the Justice Department, whose acting leader, Todd Blanche, said the suspect travelled by train from California and checked in as a guest days earlier at the Washington hotel where the Saturday night gala dinner was held with its typically tight security.
Law enforcement officials who have interviewed Allen's relatives, examined the gunman's electronic devices and his writings preliminarily believe he intended to target administration members in attendance at the dinner.
He attempted to charge into the cavernous ballroom at the Washington Hilton but was tackled to the ground in a violent scene that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage and guests ducking for cover beneath their tables.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told NBC's “Meet the Press.”
The suspect is believed to have purchased the two firearms he carried within the last couple of years, Blanche said. He is not being cooperative and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday.
Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran toward him. One officer was shot in a bullet-resistant vest but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured, but was being evaluated at a hospital, police said.
“He failed,” Blanche said on CBS's “Face the Nation.” “Law enforcement did their jobs.”
Authorities believe the suspect fired the shot that hit the Secret Service officer, who is expected to make a full recovery, Blanche said.
“He's going to be great, he's going to be fine, and thank God he was wearing a bulletproof vest,” Blanche said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”
Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.
A May 2025 profile photo of Allen appears to match the appearance of the man in a photo of the alleged attacker being taken into custody that was posted Saturday night by Trump.
The photo, posted to the social networking site LinkedIn, shows him in a cap and gown after graduating with a master's degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Allen earned a bachelor's degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He listed his involvement there in a Christian student fellowship and a campus group that battled with Nerf guns.
The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realised something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.
“It's always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organised news conference at the White House late Saturday.
