THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) resumed its raids on Friday and searched the residences of State Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose, TMC MLA Tapas Roy and another TMC leader in connection with the alleged irregularities in civic body recruitments. The ED raids of Friday are the first since the assault of ED officers during a raid at the residence of a TMC leader at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district just a week ago. On Friday the exercise began the exercise at 7 am and it is still on. The Enforcement Director officers initially faced resistance when attempting to enter Bose’s residence and gained access after about 40 minutes, sources in the agency said. “We are carrying a search warrant but even after showing it, we were initially not allowed to enter,” an ED officer said. In a departure from the previous instances in the state, a substantial contingent of central police personnel cordoned off Bose’s residence and prevented any gathering of party supporters near it. The central forces were equipped with additional protective gear, including helmets and automatic guns.

 

The sleuths of the central agency searched two residences of Bose in Lake Town area of North 24 Parganas district. Additionally, searches were conducted at Roy’s B B Ganguly Street residence in central Kolkata and Subodh Chakraborty’s residence at Birati, also in North 24 Parganas. Forces were dispatched to the residences of the three leaders by respective local police stations too. They cordoned off the areas around the houses. The heightened security response followed the violent attack on ED officers which left three of them injured during an attempt to raid the home of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan at Sandeshkhali in connection with the ration distribution scam. “We are conducting search operations at the residences of three TMC leaders in connection with the recruitments in civic bodies. We are also talking to the leaders,” an ED spokesperson said. The TMC has denounced the coordinated searches at the homes of the party leaders terming them as “vendetta politics and a desperate manoeuvre” by BJP before the Lok Sabha polls this year. The charge was dismissed as “baseless” by the West Bengal BJP.