 "TMC alleges BJP-CBI-NSG conspiracy in Sandeshkhali raid, writes to EC")
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday wrote a letter to the Election Commission (EC), denouncing the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) raid at Sandeshkhali in connection with attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers. The TMC alleged that the CBI’s actions were a deliberate attempt to tarnish the party’s reputation amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Responding to the recovery of weapons during the raid, the TMC accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of conspiring with the CBI and the National Security Guard (NSG).
“In West Bengal, the electorate was scheduled to vote in three Parliamentary constituencies, which are Darjeeling, Raiganj, and Balurghat. While elections were going on, the CBI deliberately carried out an unscrupulous raid at an empty location in Sandeshkhali. Media reports suggest that the CBI called in additional forces, including the bomb squad of the National Security Guard (NSG). It has also been reported that arms and ammunition have been recovered from a house during such raids,” the TMC letter reads.
The TMC alleged that the CBI didn’t inform the state government or the local law enforcement authorities prior to executing the raid. It added that despite the state police having a fully operational bomb disposal unit, the CBI opted to involve its own bomb squad for the operation.
The party levelled allegations against the CBI, claiming that it divulged information regarding the impending raid to the media beforehand. It accused both the CBI and the NSG of purportedly planting the weapons recovered during the raid.
“It is further astonishing to notice that media personnel were already present during such a raid even before the state administration arrived at the spot. At such a point in time, it was already nationwide news that weapons had been recovered during the raid. There is no way of knowing with certainty whether these weapons were indeed recovered during the search and seizure procedure or whether they were surreptitiously planted by the CBI/NSG,” the party said.
Central agencies at Sandeshkhali
On Friday, the CBI carried out searches at two premises of Sheikh Shahjahan, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali violence, in connection to a January attack on an ED team by a mob allegedly instigated by the now-suspended TMC leader.
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“The CBI seized three foreign-made revolvers, one foreign-made pistol, one Indian revolver, one Colt official-issue police revolver, one country-made pistol, 120 nine-mm bullets, 50 cartridges of .45 calibre, 50 cartridges of .380, and eight cartridges of .32,” reads a statement from the central agency.
BJP vs TMC over Sandeshkhali raid
Reacting to the development, BJP co-incharge of West Bengal Amit Malviya took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Mamata Banerjee, as Home Minister of West Bengal, must explain why is the state seeing a huge stockpile of illegal weapons? It is dangerous. The NSG has been deployed, but the WB government has approached the Supreme Court to preclude the CBI from investigating the matter. The arms haul is nothing but an act of terror, waging war against the nation. But the question is, Why is Mamata Banerjee trying to protect terrorists who have stocked firearms in such large quantities?”
Meanwhile, Kunal Ghosh, state secretary and spokesperson of the TMC, alleged that there is a possibility that the party’s “rivals” planted the arms.
“Till now, we have not seen any arms. The sources are saying that the CBI has recovered some arms there. However, the CBI has not briefed anything officially...It is possible that our rivals or some political parties have planted arms. The police should have been alert,” said Ghosh.