ED sends officer's assault complaint to West Bengal police

Enforcement Directorate (ED) today sent a complaint of one its officers, probing the Saradha chit fund scam case, to West Bengal police after he alleged he was beaten up in Hooghly district.
"The complaint of the Assistant Enforcement Officer has been sent to Inspector General (Law and Order) and the SP of the area. ED Special Director (East) Yogesh Gupta sent the complaint today," ED sources said adding they have asked the police to register an FIR in this regard.
The incident, that had happened on December 14 in Hind Motor Bazar area of Hooghly district, came close on the heels of Trinamool Congress workers agitating against CBI officers after the arrest of West Begal Transport Minister Madan Mitra and smashing some cars parked outside the make-shift office of the agency last week.

Both ED and CBI are now mulling to inform the Supreme Court about these incidents with a plea that they require a "secure" environment to do their duty even as both the agencies do not want to move the case out of West Bengal.
ED officials suspect the attack was allegedly carried out by people associated with ruling TMC.
"It is clear that some persons are attempting to deter me from doing my public duties as an officer of Enforcement Directorate by putting me and my family into fear of death and by assaulting me," the ED officer said in complaint.

According to his complaint, he was "heckled and slapped" by 7-8 people in a market on Sunday morning when he was going on his bicycle for purchasing household groceries.

The officer in question had recently taken possession of a Saradha property in connection with ED's money laundering case in this scam after which his photograph was flashed on some local TV channels.
"His identity probably had been made public because of this incident and the people who beat up the officer had probably confused him with being a CBI investigator. Or it may also be a case that this was a specific attack on him as ED is probing the Saradha ponzi case alongside CBI in West Bengal," they said.

Madan Mitra was last week arrested by CBI in the same case after which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had called the agency a "political tool" of BJP.