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NEW DELHI: A day after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the National Investigation Agency of “attacking” local residents during raids in East Medinipur, the Central agency strongly refuted allegations of any mala fide on its part in Saturday’s action and said it were the villagers who had unleashed an unprovoked attack on its team.
Terming the entire controversy as unfortunate, NIA made it clear that its actions were bona fide, lawful and legally mandated as part of its ongoing investigation into the heinous crime related to fabrication of crude bombs, which had caused an explosion and killed three persons in Naruabila village, Purba Medinipur district in December 2022.
NIA said its team had come under violent attack by an unruly mob as it reached Naruabila on Saturday to conduct searches in connection with its probe in the Bhupathinagar blast case. “The attack was completely unprovoked and uncalled for, and an attempt made to obstruct NIA from carrying out its lawful duties,” the agency said. It underlined that the searches at five locations in East Medinipur were conducted in the presence of independent witnesses and under the security cover provided by CRPF, which comprised lady constables. The arrests were made after following all lawful procedures, the agency clarified.
NIA reiterated that an aggressive crowd had assaulted its personnel as they took arrested accused Manobrata Jana to the local police station for completing legal formalities. One NIA official sustained injuries and an official vehicle of NIA was damaged in the process. NIA has already filed a complaint at the area police station seeking legal action against the assailants.
NIA had on Saturday arrested two accused, Manobrata Jana and Bailicharan Maity, for their involvement in the Bhupathinagar crude bomb explosion case. NIA revealed that the duo had failed to appear before the agency despite repeated summons to join the investigation. This led NIA to file an application before the Special NIA Court, Kolkata, which, after perusing the case records, issued an order on April 3, 2024, stating that it found the allegations to be of very serious nature.
The special court also observed that NIA was “at liberty to proceed with the investigation as expeditiously as possible, and to take all necessary action with regard to arrest, search and seizure of the houses of the suspects/accused persons, in accordance with the relevant provisions of Criminal Code of Procedure, NIA Act and UAPA….for a proper and thorough investigation.”
It was following this order of the special court that NIA on Saturday conducted the searches, which culminated in the arrest of the two accused.
Terming the entire controversy as unfortunate, NIA made it clear that its actions were bona fide, lawful and legally mandated as part of its ongoing investigation into the heinous crime related to fabrication of crude bombs, which had caused an explosion and killed three persons in Naruabila village, Purba Medinipur district in December 2022.
NIA said its team had come under violent attack by an unruly mob as it reached Naruabila on Saturday to conduct searches in connection with its probe in the Bhupathinagar blast case. “The attack was completely unprovoked and uncalled for, and an attempt made to obstruct NIA from carrying out its lawful duties,” the agency said. It underlined that the searches at five locations in East Medinipur were conducted in the presence of independent witnesses and under the security cover provided by CRPF, which comprised lady constables. The arrests were made after following all lawful procedures, the agency clarified.
NIA reiterated that an aggressive crowd had assaulted its personnel as they took arrested accused Manobrata Jana to the local police station for completing legal formalities. One NIA official sustained injuries and an official vehicle of NIA was damaged in the process. NIA has already filed a complaint at the area police station seeking legal action against the assailants.
NIA had on Saturday arrested two accused, Manobrata Jana and Bailicharan Maity, for their involvement in the Bhupathinagar crude bomb explosion case. NIA revealed that the duo had failed to appear before the agency despite repeated summons to join the investigation. This led NIA to file an application before the Special NIA Court, Kolkata, which, after perusing the case records, issued an order on April 3, 2024, stating that it found the allegations to be of very serious nature.
The special court also observed that NIA was “at liberty to proceed with the investigation as expeditiously as possible, and to take all necessary action with regard to arrest, search and seizure of the houses of the suspects/accused persons, in accordance with the relevant provisions of Criminal Code of Procedure, NIA Act and UAPA….for a proper and thorough investigation.”
It was following this order of the special court that NIA on Saturday conducted the searches, which culminated in the arrest of the two accused.
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