Nisith Pramanik calls attack on ED team in West Bengal an "Attack on constitution"

NEW DELHI: Following the attack on the team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in West Bengal, Union Minister Nisith Pramanik on Friday said that it is not just an attack on the central agency, rather it's an attack on the Constitution and the whole federal structure. "We condemn the incident which took place in Sandeshkhali of the North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Whenever a central agency goes to a state upon the direction of the court and gets attacked, nothing is more condemnable than this," Pramanik said.

"It is not just an attack on a central agency, rather it is an attack on the Constitution and the whole federal structure," he added. Taking a swipe at the Trinamool Congress-led state government, he stated, "Whenever such incidents take place in a state, it proves that the state government is a failure when it comes to maintaining law and order." "We should delve into why such incidents are taking place repeatedly in Bengal," he added.

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. As per reports, 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." 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. Meanwhile, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on Friday said that the attack on the team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal was an "effect of provocation". Kunal Ghosh further alleged that the Central agency is working against the leader 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.