ED Director lands in Kolkata

Kolkata, Jan 9 (IANS) After the attack on its officials on January 5 at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, the in-charge director of the Enforcement Directorate, Rahul Navin, arrived in Kolkata to take stock of the situation, said officials on Tuesday .

It is learnt that Navin arrived at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata after Monday midnight and is scheduled to hold meetings with the top officials of the agency in Kolkata to decide over the next course of action.

Sources said the ED director is also expected to set the guidelines on the next legal moves to be adopted in the wake of its findings that the state police had diluted the seriousness of the charges in the case related to the attack on its officials on January 5.

On Monday evening only, the ED had issued a strongly worded statement on this count accusing the local Nazat Police Station of registering an FIR incorporating mainly the clauses related to bailable and non-scheduled offences.

The arrival of the ED director in Kolkata immediately after that is being viewed as extremely crucial.

Sources said that in Tuesday meeting, the ED director is also expected to set the guidelines on the required actions to build up pressure on the state police administration to hunt and arrest Trinamool Congress leader and the mastermind of the attack on the central agency and CAPF personnel, considering that there are enough indications that the latter might be hiding somewhere in the Sandeshkhali area and constantly changing his locations to escape arrest.

Even the local Trinamool Congress legislator from Sandeshkhali Sukumar Mahata has made a media statement claiming that Sajahan is not a person who will escape.

However, as a precautionary measure the ED has issued a lookout notice against him to prevent his possible escape to neighbouring Bangladesh considering that its international border with India is close to the residence of Sajahan at Sandeshkhali.