An Enforcement Directorate team that had raided a Trinamul leader’s home in North 24-Parganas to probe allegations of corruption in ration distribution was attacked by a mob of around 200 men and women who beat them, smashed their cars and forced them to flee on Friday morning.

At least three ED officers and several journalists who were tailing the raiding team were injured in the violence at Sarberia village in Sandeshkhali block, about 73km from the heart of Calcutta.

The injured officers — Rajkumar Ram (an assistant director), Somenath Dutta and Ankur Gupta — were admitted to a private hospital in Salt Lake with multiple injuries. One of them had head injuries and was seen bleeding profusely.

The ED said the attack was instigated by Shahjahan Sheikh, a karmadhyaksha at the North 24-Parganas zilla parishad.

Shahjahan, 47, who began his political career with the Left Front constituent RSP, later moved to the CPM and eventually to Trinamul when it came to power. Bengal police said there were multiple criminal cases against him.

A resident of Basirhat said that such was Shahjahan’s clout locally that there was a market named after him at Sarberia.

Shahjahan’s phone was switched off on Friday evening.

The ED said Shahjahan’s telephone tower location suggested he was inside the house, but he did not open the door, which was locked from inside.

The sight of a group of men, guarded by armed jawans of the CRPF, trying to force their way into the house of a local leader seemed to have sparked the violence.

Men and women, young and old, pounced on the central agency’s officers. Many of them were allegedly armed with sticks and bricks.

District police said they had no advance knowledge of the central agency’s raid and that a team had rushed to rescue the ED officers the moment they received the information.

“We received an email from them about the raid at 8.20am. A team was sent to the spot immediately. But the incident had happened before they had sent us the mail,” said Joby Thomas K, superintendent of police, Basirhat police directorate.

“Our team reached the spot, rescued the officers of the central agency and took them to a safe place.”

The central agency’s swoop at Sandeshkhali was part of a larger operation that included raids on 11 other locations across the state in connection with the same case. There were no reports of violence at the other places the ED raided on Friday.

The central agency’s operation that was to be carried out at Sandeshkhali on Friday was part of a larger operation that included raids on 11 other locations across the state in connection with the same case. There were no reports of violence from the other places where the ED carried out raids on Friday.

Around 7 pm on Friday, the police said they had yet to receive any formal complaint from the central agency. “We are probing how and why suddenly so many people could gather at such a short notice and if there was any rumour mongering that led to the incident,” said a senior police officer.

This newspaper tried to contact ED assistant director Ravinder Dahiya, who is also the investigating officer in the case, to seek his reaction on the incident.

The phone call went unanswered and two text messages were not responded to.

Several central agency officers who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed outrage. “How can an agency perform its duty if its personnel are made to feel so insecure?” said an officer.

Bengal police said ideally the central agency should have informed the local police before conducting the raid.

“This is official protocol. Because in case of any untoward incident, law and order becomes the responsibility of the local police. Hence sharing intimation about any sensitive move can help the local police be prepared. The terrain here is such that even if you inform when an incident is happening it will take a lot of time to reach the spot,” said an officer in the Bengal police directorate. The police said they were scanning video footage and trying to identify the people who were behind the violence.

“We are also checking if there was any instigation or spread of false information to trigger violence,” the officer said.

No arrests had been formally announced till late Friday evening.

Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose issued a video statement saying the Constitution would “take its course” if the government failed in its duty.

“The ghastly incident reported from Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas district is alarming, is deplorable to say the least. It is the bounded duty of a civilised government to stop barbarism and vandalism in a democracy. If government fails its basic duty, then the Constitution of India will definitely take its course. As governor, I reserve all my constitutional options for appropriate action at appropriate moment.

“Flexing muscles and parading paper tigers will not work with the people of Bengal. Jungle raaj and goondagiri will work in a fool’s paradise. Bengal is not a banana republic. I repeat, Bengal is not a banana republic. The government should do its duty. Those who think they can rule through dons, soon will they find themselves to be Don Quixotes.

“This pre-election violation which has an early beginning will find, should find an early end. The sole responsibility, the sole responsibility for wanton violence in society lies with the Government, it lies with the Government.”

He added that the state government was being ostrich-like to lawlessness.

“The government may open up its eyes and see the reality and act effectively to face the consequences. The ostrich-like attitude of the police who present not to see the reality around, not to see the lawlessness around should go. The perpetrators of violence and more so their political abattoirs will soon be made to realise you can fool some people for all times and all people for some times, but not all people for all times, not all people for all times. It is high time that we call a stop to violence and hooliganism. In Bengal, violence will come to an end.”