Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday moved the Election Commission against the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) raid at two premises of an alleged associate of Sandeshkhali accused Shajahan Sheikh, saying the agency’s action was aimed at tarnishing the party’s image amid the Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to the recovery of weapons, the party accused BJP of conspiring with CBI and 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,” its letter said.
TMC claimed that the CBI didn’t inform the state government or the police before carrying out the raid. It said the CBI brought along a bomb squad for the raid even when the state police had a fully functional bomb disposal unit.
The party accused the CBI of informing the media about the raid in advance. It also accused the CBI and NSG of planting the weapons recovered during the raid.
“It is further astonishing to notice that media personnel were already present during such the 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, as to whether these weapons were indeed recovered during the search and seizure procedure or whether they were surreptitiously planted by the CBI/NSG,” the party added.
