The West Bengal police on Friday made the first arrests in connection with the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers in Sandeshkhali on January 5. Two individuals, identified as Mehboob Mollah and Sukomal Sardar, were arrested following police raids. Both were presented in court, which subsequently granted three-day police custody for further investigation.

The DSP of Basirhat police station revisited the ED headquarters in Kolkata to collect the recorded statement from the officer who was the complainant in the incident. However, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan, even after a week, remains elusive.

It is worth noting that, after filing a petition in the Calcutta High Court against the FIR lodged by Nazat police station against ED officers, the court on Thursday observed that the state police cannot take any coercive action against the central sleuths until March 31.

While the ruling Trinamool Congress labels the ED raids as ‘political vendetta’ orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is relentless in criticising the ruling party and its leader for targeting central investigators.