An Enforcement Directorate team accompanied by over 120 central force personnel entered Sandeshkhali, in North 24-Parganas, in a 34-vehicle convoy early on Wednesday and raided the house of missing Trinamul Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh.
This was the first time the ED managed to enter Shahjahan’s house since the failed attempt on January 5, when officers of the central agency were beaten back by a violent mob allegedly instigated by the leader.
Shahjahan, a karmadhyaksha at the North 24-Parganas zilla parishad, is under the ED scanner in connection with the public distribution system scam.
On Wednesday, the team broke open the main door of the house and seized documents related to property and personal insurance in a seven-hour operation before pasting a summons on the wall asking Shahjahan to be present at the ED office in Kolkata at 11am on January 29.
The raid was conducted with the assistance of the state police. No untoward incident was reported.
The ED said it seized 15 property deeds, invoices of jewellery from two showrooms, documents of three insurance policies, some visa-related papers, insurance certificates, air tickets belonging to others and a detailed project report of SKS Building SuperMarket.
Sources in the agency said five notes of Rs 500 were found in the house, which the ED did not seize.
The large team reached Sarberia village in the Sandeshkhali block, about 75km from the heart of Kolkata, around 6.30am on Wednesday and approached Shahjahan’s house in the presence of local Basirhat police.
Sources in the police said that unlike during the last raid, when the local police were not kept in the loop about the operation and were informed only after the attack, the ED this time had mailed the district police on Tuesday night and sought their assistance.
Around 100 police personnel accompanied the ED team when it entered the village to raid the house of the leader.
Initially, the central agency tried to get two “independent witnesses” from the neighbourhood for the search but failed to locate anyone who could understand or write English. “We had to seek help from the Bengal police and two of their officers were allowed to be part of the raid as independent witnesses,” said an ED officer.
As the two-storeyed house was found locked, the ED team approached the houses of Shahjahan’s brothers Alamghir and Sirajuddin in the same neighbourhood seeking help. Neither was at home. There were only women in the houses and they refused to be part of the proceedings, an ED officer said.
The ED then asked the police to break the padlock on the door of Shahjahan’s house, which the cops allegedly declined to do.
After that, a locksmith was called and he broke two locks on the main gate. ED sources said 19 locks on drawers, cupboards and doors were broken as no keys were found.
The raid that started at 7.45am concluded around 2pm.