After ED, now NIA team attacked in Bengal, officer hurt

NEW DELHI/KOLKATA/BHUPATINAGAR: An NIA officer was injured and a vehicle of the agency was damaged in stone pelting in Bengal's East Medinipur district Saturday when an "unruly" mob comprising local villagers tried to obstruct an NIA team from arresting two alleged conspirators behind a blast that had claimed three lives in Bhupatinagar village in 2022.
NIA later managed to arrest the duo, Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana.
The incident was reminiscent of a similar attack on an ED team at Sandeshkhali in the state's North 24 Parganas district on Jan 5.

NIA files complaint against obstruction andassault of its team
In the assault by some “miscreants” among the crowd at Jana’s house, an NIA team member sustained minor injury and the vehicle was damaged due to stone pelting. The aggressive crowd also tried to stop the NIA team and its security component from moving towards Bhupatinagar police station to complete arrest formalities of the two accused.
NIA said it has lodged a complaint at the local police station regarding obstruction and assault of its team.
East Midnapore police superintendent Soumyadip Bhattacharya said an NIA team had reached Bhupatinagar police station early in the morning seeking help from local police. “While a local police team was leaving with NIA officials to assist them, information came that another NIA team had already raided a village and arrested two persons. This led to tension locally. It has been alleged that a vehicle was damaged and one officer suffered minor injuries. Action is being taken,” he said.
Jana and Maity were found to have conspired to manufacture and explode crude bombs to spread terror. One such bomb was allegedly used in the Bhupatinagar blast. Three persons were killed in the December 2022 explosion in the house of one Rajkumar Manna in village Naruabilla, East Medinipur district. Manna himself was seriously injured in the blast, along with two others, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna. All three had succumbed to their injuries.
The West Bengal police initially registered an FIR on December 3, 2022 against the three men killed in the explosion but the provisions of the Explosive Substances Act were not applied.
Subsequently, a writ petition was filed before Hon’ble high court at Calcutta with a prayer for invoking the relevant sections of the Act and transferring of the case to agency.
NIA took over the case on June 4, 2023, as directed by the HC in March 2023, and re-registered the FIR under the relevant laws, including the Explosive Substances Act.