Ration scam: ED officers assaulted by TMC leader's loyalists during raid in West Bengal
Kolkata, Jan 5: ED officers were on Friday assaulted and their vehicles were damaged allegedly by supporters of TMC leader Sheikh Sajahan when they tried to raid his residence in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district in connection with their probe into the ration distribution scam.
The ED officers are conducting raids at 15 places in the state during the day and Sajahan's house is one of them, an officer said.
A large number of TMC loyalists first gheraoed the ED officials and the central forces personnel who accompanied them when they reached Sheikh's residence in Sandeshkhali area in the morning and demonstrated before assaulting them and forcing them to leave the area, the officer said.
One of the officers suffered head injuries and had to be taken to a hospital, he said.
Sajahan is considered to be a close aide of state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick who was arrested in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam.
"This kind of attack is unprecedented. We have sent a report on Shiekh Sajahan to our Delhi office," the ED officer told PTI.
Sajahan's supporters attacked the officials and the central forces personnel when they tried to break the lock of the gate of his residence which was not opened by the TMC leader despite several calls made by them, he said.
Senior police officers including the SP of North 24 Parganas district did not communicate when the ED officers tried to contact them, he alleged.
The ED officers are conducting raids at 15 places in West Bengal in connection with the scam.
#WATCH | Members of #ED team who received injuries during an attack on their vehicle in #WestBengal's Sandeshkhali today, have been shifted to a local hospital in #Kolkata
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) January 5, 2024
đš ANI pic.twitter.com/KAnNGsgJWW
Horrific. The Law & Order Situation in West Bengal is in shambles.
— Suvendu Adhikari • āĻļā§āĻā§āĻ¨ā§āĻĻā§ āĻ āĻ§āĻŋāĻāĻžāĻ°ā§ (@SuvenduWB) January 5, 2024
ED Officials & CRPF Jawans brutally attacked in Sandeshkhali; North 24 Parganas district, while conducting Raid at TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's house.
I doubt that Rohingyas are present amongst the Anti National… pic.twitter.com/XHboQsBVSX
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Punjab: 16 private schools in Mohali receive bomb threat emails
Chandigarh (PTI): Sixteen private schools in Punjab's Mohali received bomb threat emails on Wednesday, triggering evacuation and prompting detailed anti-sabotage checks by police, an officer said.
No suspicious or explosive material was discovered at any of the locations after thorough inspections, the officer said.
School authorities sent messages to parents, declaring a holiday. Students on their way to school were sent back home, they said.
Manav Mangal School, Shivalik Public School, and Learning Paths School were among the schools which received the bomb threat emails.
The police said they swung into action after school authorities reported receiving the emails between 7.30 am and 8 am.
Security was mounted at the targeted schools, and intensive searches were carried out, they said.
"The police teams led by superintendents of police, deputy superintendents of police and other officials were rushed to the schools along with anti-sabotage teams and bomb disposal squads," Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harmandeep Singh Hans told reporters.
Around 300 policemen were involved in the search operation, and all targeted schools were evacuated, he said.
The checking of all schools was completed within about two-and-a-half hours with the support of additional force and specialised teams from neighbouring districts of Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, and Chandigarh headquarters, Hans said.
"No explosive material was found at any of the locations," he added.
The search operations were supervised by SP City Dilpreet Singh, along with SPs Navneet Singh Mahal, Mohit Aggarwal, Sukhnaz Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh Gill; DSP City-1 Prithvi Singh Chahal, DSP City-2 Harsimran Singh Bal and all station house officers.
Schools covered during the search included Amity School, Doon School, Learning Paths, Gurukul School, Vivek High School, Paragon School, YPS School, Lawrence School, and Gem Public School.
An FIR is being lodged, and the case has been referred to the Cyber Police Station, Phase-7, Mohali, to ascertain the origin of the threatening email and conduct an investigation, Hans said.
The latest scare comes close on the heels of similar threat incidents in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, and schools in Haryana, all of which turned out to be hoaxes.
