Just days before the upcoming second phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) along with Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel are carrying out raids in Habra, North 24 Parganas district. Teams of ED officials have left from the agency’s Salt Lake office towards Habra, targeting the residences of three rice-traders and mill owners closely associated with a local Trinamool Congress legislator.
These raids are focused on the residences of Sagar Saha, Partha Saha, and Rajib Saha, who have ties to the former West Bengal Food & Supplies Minister, Jyotipriya Mallick. Mallick, previously arrested by the ED in a PDS case, is currently out on bail and is contesting in the upcoming Assembly elections from Habra. The ED operations are concentrated at specific locations in Habra linked to these individuals.
Notably, the ED’s actions are related to an incident before the 2021 Assembly elections where a significant amount of food grains were seized while being smuggled into Bangladesh. The recent raids are believed to be connected to this particular case. Additionally, the ED had previously questioned actress-turned-politician Nusrat Jahan, a former Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, regarding the same matter.
