No evidence of arms seizure in Sandeshkhali, recovered items might be brought by CBI: Mamata

 Meanwhile TMC moves ECI against Sandeshkhali raid

Even if firecracker goes off in Bengal, the NIA, CBI, NSG are coming to investigate. It seems that a war is going on. The state police were not informed. It is not known what was found, Banerjee said

Press Trust of India, Kulti (WB): Apr 27 2024 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said there was "no evidence" of recovery of arms and ammunition in Sandeshkhali and claimed that CBI teams conducted searches without keeping the state police in the loop.

Expressing skepticism regarding the operations, Banerjee said the recovered items "might have been brought by officials of the central agency".

"If a firecracker goes off in Bengal, the NIA, CBI and the NSG come to investigate. It seems that a war is going on. The state police were not informed. It is not known what was found. The seized items might have been brought by them (CBI) in a car," Banerjee said.

The CM was addressing election rallies in Kulti and Ushagram for TMC's Asansol Lok Sabha candidate Shatrughan Sinha.

Accusing the BJP of scheming to manipulate the general elections in Bengal, Banerjee vowed to thwart any plan they might have regarding Sandeshkhali.

"I will foil your plans if you are conspiring something regarding Sandeshkhali," he said.

The CBI on Friday seized arms and ammunition, including a police service revolver and foreign-made firearms, during searches at two premises of an associate of now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali.

The searches were conducted in connection with the January attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team by a mob that was allegedly instigated by Sheikh, who was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 in the case.

Teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), bomb detection squad, National Security Guards (NSG), paramilitary forces and West Bengal Police were part of the searches at Sandeshkhali -- a riverine delta -- on the fringes of the Sunderbans in North 24 Parganas district.

Banerjee also said, "Today, I heard there was an incident near Sandeshkhali. A BJP leader had stored bombs in his house. They think that they can win the elections by cancelling (school) jobs and with bombs. We want 'roti, kapda, makaan' and jobs for the people, not their lofty speeches."

The Trinamool Congress alleged that several people were injured after a bomb went off at the house of a relative of a BJP leader in Basirhat assembly constituency on Saturday.

She was apparently referring to the Calcutta High Court judgment on school jobs.

The court declared the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools as null and void, ordering the cancellation of all appointments made through it.

Banerjee also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence on the incidents of violence in Manipur" and asked why central agencies were not sent there.

"There is still unrest in Manipur. Today two jawans were killed in the northeastern state. I express my condolences to their families. But why the PM could not bring the situation under control? He must answer why women were paraded naked. Who will answer?" she asked.

Banerjee levelled accusations against the BJP, claiming that they were "financially influencing the media to broadcast content dictated by them".

She further claimed that media outlets were complying with BJP directives to avoid repercussions from agencies like the Income Tax, CBI, and NIA.

Without taking his name, the TMC supremo hit out at BJP's Asansol Lok Sabha candidate SS Ahluwalia alleging that he had paid voters to win the last election from the Durgapur-Bardhaman constituency.

"Why have you come to contest in the Asansol constituency? You did nothing for the seat from where you won last time. You were absent there for the last five years. I know how you won the election from Bardhaman-Durgapur last time. You gave packets (containing money) to voters. I will ask people not to accept anything less than Rs 15 lakh this time... It was the promise of the PM," she said.

Banerjee questioned Ahluwalia's silence when one Sikh IPS officer was allegedly called a "Khalisthani".

"When one of our Punjabi officers was called Khalistani, where were you? You did not protest at that time," she said.  

 

Meanwhile Trinamool Congress has lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal stating that the CBI had `deliberately carried out an unscrupulous’ raid at an `empty location’ at Sandeshkhali during the second phase of polling in the state. 

The TMC said that while elections were going on at Darjeeling, Raiganj and Balurghat Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday, the central agency carried out an `unscrupulous’ raid at an empty location at Sandeshkhali. The CBI on Friday seized arms and ammunition, including a police service revolver and foreign-made firearms, during searches at two premises of an associate of now-suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali. 

The searches were conducted in connection with the January attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team by a mob that was allegedly instigated by Sheikh, who was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29 in the case. The Trinamool Congress in a letter to the CEO on Friday said that media reports suggested that CBI had called in additional forces including the bomb squad of NSG. `It has also been reported in the media that arms and ammunition have been recovered from a house during the such raid by the central agency’, it said. 

The party said while law and order fell completely within the domain of the State government, the CBI did not issue any notice to it or the police authorities before carrying out such a raid. The TMC stated that the West Bengal police has a fully functional bomb disposal squad at its command, it could have assisted in the operation if the CBI indeed felt its requirement during the raid. `However, no such assistance was sought. But, surprisingly, the raids had become nationwide news stating that weapons had been recovered during the raids’, TMC said. 

The party also doubted `there is no way of knowing with certainty as to whether these weapons were indeed recovered during the search or whether they were surreptitiously planted by the CBI or NSG’. The TMC alleged the entire exercise smacks of an effort by the CBI to create a nationwide hatred against the TMC and its candidates, during the election period, while feeding with the wrong information that the location belonged to a supporter of the party. 

The letter said that the incident had again demonstrated the fact that the `BJP has weaponised’ the central investigation agencies including the CBI to carry out a smear campaign against the party. It further iterated that in the absence of any representative of the State government, the purported recovery of arms and ammunition is possibly a ploy by the BJP in conspiracy with the CBI and the NSG to plant weapons in the site’, the party said in the letter.