TMC leader Shankar Adhya arrested in ration 'scam', supporters attack ED team
Kolkata, Jan 6: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Bongaon Municipality's former chairman Shankar Adhya in the early hours of Saturday in connection with the alleged ration scam in West Bengal, officials said.
Adhya, a TMC leader in the North 24 Parganas district, was arrested from his residence in Simultola in Bongaon after searches were conducted by the agency at properties linked to him and his family members. These searches went on for at least 17 hours on Friday, they said.
Following the arrest, his supporters allegedly tried to block the investigators from taking him with them, besides hurling stones at their vehicles. The CRPF personnel who were accompanying the ED team had to baton-charge the mob to bring the situation under control, they added.
"Along with the searches, Adhya was also being questioned. He was arrested as his replies were not satisfactory," an ED officer said.
"After the arrest, his supporters, led by women, tried to stop the officers from taking him along with them. The accompanying CRPF personnel brought the situation under control," he said.
This was the second attack on the agency after the one in Sandeshkhali in neighbouring South 24 Parganas district on Friday. The ED said three of its officers suffered "grievous" injuries after a mob vandalised its vehicles during a raid at the residence of TMC leader Sahajahan Sheikh. The mob also snatched their personal belongings such as mobile phones and wallets.
Adhya is considered to be close to state minister Jyotipriyo Mallick, who was arrested in connection with the alleged scam last year.
Along with properties belonging to the TMC leader, the ED had conducted searches at the residences of his in-laws, his associates and an ice cream factory linked to them.
Besides documents, the ED seized around Rs 8 lakh in cash from the residence of the in-laws, the officer said.
Soon after his arrest, Adhya told reporters, "I'll cooperate with the ED and will help them in every possible way."
He was brought to the ED office in Salt Lake in the early hours itself and will be produced at a court in Kolkata later in the day.
VIDEO | ED arrested former Bongaon municipality chairperson Shankar Adhya earlier today in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam in West Bengal. More details are awaited. pic.twitter.com/Q2OOCn1Rz6
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 6, 2024
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J-K: Six held with drugs, assets worth Rs 73 lakh attached in Udhampur
Jammu (PTI): Six persons were taken into custody during an intensified anti-narcotics crackdown, with police recovering contraband substances and over Rs 23 lakh in Doda and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday.
In a parallel action, properties worth over Rs 73 lakh linked to drug peddlers were also attached in Udhampur district under relevant legal provisions, the police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Doda, Mohd Aslam said three persons, including a woman, were detained during a raid on a house at Dak Mohalla in the main town following recovery of 85 grams of suspected brown sugar and over Rs 23 lakh on Sunday evening.
He identified the woman as Zareena Begum, stating that she had been under police surveillance following inputs indicating her involvement in drug peddling.
Besides Zareena, officials said her daughter and son-in-law were also picked up by police during the raid.
“We have taken three individuals into custody. Their roles are being examined, and based on that, arrests will be made. We are continuing raids at other suspected locations,” Aslam said.
Three drug peddlers --Pardeep Singh of Hiranagar, Rahees Butt of Billawar and Ali Sen of Amritsar (Punjab) -- were arrested along with heroin at different places in Kathua district, a police spokesman said.
He said while 2.79 gm of heroin was seized from Singh, 2.66 gm were recovered Butt. Similarly, 303 gm of heroin was seized from Sen who was intercepted near Berrian-Pattan village while moving in a private car from Bhagthali to Maggar Khad on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
All the three were booked under the NDPS Act and further investigations are on, the spokesman said.
In Udhampur, the spokesman said properties worth Rs 73 lakh were attached in two separate cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The attached properties included a newly constructed residential house, a car, a motorcycle and a mobile phone with a total value of Rs 65 Lakh, belonging to accused Saif Ali who was booked under the NDPS case in Majalta area early this year, he said.
In another action, movable property worth Rs 8 lakh comprising a car, belonging to accused Danish Butt of Doda has been attached under Section 68(F) NDPS Act in connection with an FIR registered at Rehambal police station, the spokesman said.
