The Enforcement Directorate has mentioned in a report, which central agency sources said was drawn up hours after the attack on ED officials and CRPF personnel at Sarberia in North 24-Parganas, that police did not come to the rescue for almost over an hour.

A mob attacked a team of ED officers and accompanying CRPF personnel during a search and seizure operation at the residence of local Trinamul Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan near Sandeshkhali on Friday morning.

The eight-member team reached Sarberia around 7.10am and after waiting for almost an hour outside Shahjahan's house, an attempt was made to break open the main door. Then, a section of irate residents allegedly attacked the team. For close to an hour, the villagers heckled the CRPF personnel and the ED officers, forcing the team to leave. During this time, no police personnel had come to their rescue, ED sources said.

A police team reached over an hour after senior ED officers had sought the help of local law enforcement officers through an email, the sources said.

The report said the Tata Aria SUV, which was used to ferry the team, including the CRPF personnel, to Sandeshkhali, was attacked by the mob. Windshields were smashed and two officers received head injuries during the attack that was spearheaded by women who were joined by hundreds of other villagers.

A section of CRPF personnel had to run down a banana grove as the villagers attacked them with iron rods and bricks and hitch a ride on e-rickshaws to reach a highway, the report said.

The report also said how several media personnel were attacked and their vehicles ransacked, said insiders who are in the know of the contents.

"We have sent a copy of the report to bosses in New Delhi and a detailed report is being drawn up. It will be subsequently submitted to Calcutta High Court," said a senior ED officer.

However, senior officers of the Basirhat police district said they had gone to the rescue of the central team and arranged for a police vessel to facilitate their movement across a river and out of the troubled zone.

"There was no previous intimation with us about the search and seizure operation. We reached the spot and rescued the team from the mob," said Joby Thomas K, the police superintendent of the Basirhat police district.

The report mentioned why it was vital to visit Shahjahan's house, which was locked from inside, in connection with the ongoing probe into alleged irregularities in the distribution of rations across the state.

"We have filed a complaint with the local police about how government officials were stopped from performing their duties and even attacked. A case has been drawn up under different sections of the IPC, including Sections 353 and 332, dealing with assault with criminal force deterring a government officer from performing his duty and punishment for causing harm," the ED officer said. "We will follow up this case."

The CRPF also sent a report to its headquarters on Lodhi Road in New Delhi, detailing the day's development, including how its personnel were attacked and despite enough provocation, how no bullet was fired to disperse the mob.