"They are injured, can be murdered tomorrow": Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury slams TMC govt after attack on ED team

Speaking to the media, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that he would not be surprised if any official is 'murdered' in the state.

Congress' senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Friday hit out at its ally in the INDIA bloc- Trinamool Congress after a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was attacked in West Bengal, saying that there is no law and order in the state. Speaking to the media, Adhir said that he would not be surprised if any official is 'murdered' in the state.

"After the attack by goons of the ruling government on ED officials, it is clear that there is no law and order in the state. Today, they were injured, tomorrow they can be murdered. Such a thing would not come as a surprise to me," he said. However, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh has called the Congress leader "an agent of the BJP".

"Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is an agent of BJP..." Kunal Ghosh said. On Thursday night, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team was attacked and its vehicles damaged in Sandeshkhali village of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, when it tried to raid the residence of block-level leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in connection with an alleged ration scam case, an official of the agency said.

The ED was conducting raids at the residence of former Bongaon Municipality Chairman Shankar Adhya in Bangaon and TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan's house in connection with the alleged ration scam case. Sheikh Shahjahan is the Fisheries and Animal Resources Officer of North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad as well as Block President of Sandeshkhali 1.

The Trinamool Congress leader's supporters started protesting outside the leader's residence while the raid was underway and later on a mob attacked ED officials and vandalized their cars, according to ED officials. Two officials of the agency sustained injuries in the incident.

A member of the raiding ED team said, "Eight people came to the spot. We three moved from the incident spot ...they attacked us." Several BJP leaders have condemned the incident and hit out at the ruling Trinamool government.

BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar, while condemning the incident said that 'democracy is falling again and again in West Bengal' and advocated to declare an emergency in the state. "Democracy is failing again and again in West Bengal that's the reason why the ED team was attacked. The organisations working against the nation are getting powerful. Bombs, pistols etc are recovered every day but no proper action is being taken against them. Hence, it is important to remove the government and declare an emergency in the state. Once it's done everything will improve and nobody will dare to attack the ED team," he said.

Reacting to the attack on the central agency team, West Bengal BJP Chief Sukanta Majumdar said "There is a complaint and corruption charges against all of them. It is natural that ED will take action. It is quite obvious. The attack on ED in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali shows what the Rohingya are doing to the law and order in the state." BJP leader Anirban Ganguly said that the incident has come as the 'first' such type because this has never happened.

"This has never happened. This is a serious issue...I've been saying that Shahjahan Sheikh is a threat to public peace...He has been given a free hand in South-24 Parganas. He does a lot of illegal activities there and controls law & order..." he said. However, the TMC MP Santanu Sen alleged that the officials of the federal agency 'provoked' the locals which led to a counter-reaction from the people.

"The officers of the Central investigation agency surrounded by the Central forces provoked the local people that's why there were counter reactions continuously," he said. Santanu Sen also said that the people of the country are 'frustrated' with actions taken by the central agencies which are being 'monitored from Delhi'.

"The real fact is the people of India are frustrated watching this deep-rooted conspiracy engineered and monitored from Delhi daily and that too in the case of TMC in West Bengal...On the contrary, the person who's posting all this on social media is topping the list of corruption. He was found taking money before the camera. His other family members are accused of corruption but no action was taken against them because they belong to BJP," Sen added. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said that the attack on the ED officials was an "effect of provocation".

Kunal Ghosh further alleged that the Central agency is working against the leaders of his party at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "What happened in Sandeskhali was an effect of provocation. In West Bengal, central agencies and forces on the instructions of the BJP are going to the residence of one or the other TMC leader or workers to harass, spread negative statements and provoke people. We are receiving such allegations and that's what happened in Sandeshkhali yesterday," Ghosh said. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)