FIR filed against NIA officers after arrested TMC leader's wife alleges assault

She said NIA officials tried to outrage her modesty after forcibly entering her house

scuffle The scuffle by security officials and villagers at West Bengal's Purba Medinpur district after NIA came to arrest two suspects in a blast case | X

The wife of arrested TMC leader Monobrata Jana has filed an FIR against NIA officials alleging that they tried to outrage her modesty after forcibly entering her residence in Bhupatinagar in the pretext of conducting a probe, a police officer said on Sunday.

The National Investigation Agency on Saturday arrested two key conspirators - Balai Charan Maity and Manobrata Jana - in a 2022 blast case in West Bengal's Purba Medinpur district in which three persons were killed.

Jana's wife Moni Jana lodged her complaint with Bhupatinagar police station alleging that NIA officers also vandalised properties in her residence during their raid on Saturday morning, he said.

"We have registered an FIR after receiving a complaint from a woman alleging assault by NIA officers. We are looking into the complaint," the police officer told PTI.

IPC Section 354 (for assaulting any woman, with an intention to outrage her modesty) was attached to the complaint, the police officer added.

A team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on Saturday when it went to arrest two main suspects in the 2022 blast case in Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting the villagers.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said one of its officers was injured and a vehicle was damaged in the attack that happened in Bhupatinagar.

Meanwhile, police are yet to arrest anyone in connection with the attack on the NIA officers who have lodged a complaint with the Bhupatinagar police station, he added. "The matter is being investigated," he said.

The attack on the NIA team evoked memories of January 5 when a team of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was attacked by a mob in North 24 Parganas district's Sandeshkhali during a search at the house of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh in connection with alleged irregularities in the public distribution system. 

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