CBI raid concludes at Trinamool MLA's residence, continues in Minister Hakim's home

Kolkata, Oct 8 (IANS) The raid and search operations at the residence of Trinamool Congress legislator Madan Mitra at Bhawanipur in South Kolkata concluded at around 2.30 p.m. after over five hours on Sunday.

However, even after over six hours since it started from around 8.30 a.m. the raid and search operations at the residence of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Mayor and West Bengal municipal affairs & urban development Minister Firhad Hakim at Chetla in South Kolkata continued.

The raid & search operations are related to the multi- crore municipalities’ recruitment irregularities case in the state. Agency insiders said that although the investigating officers secured crucial information about the case by interrogating Mitra, they have seized documents from him. He has been questioned relating to the said irregularities in Kamarhati Municipality in North 24 Parganas district, where Mitra is the Trinamool Congress legislator.

Besides the residence of Mitra and Hakim, simultaneous raid and search operations were conducted by the CBI sleuths at ten other locations

CBI insiders said that they are not in a position to divulge the documents seized from various places where the raid and search operations are being conducted because of the direction of the court to maintain secrecy in the matter. “We will not be able to divulge details of the documents seized by us. We will have to submit them directly to the court,” said a CBI official who is a part of the raiding team at Halisahar.

Trinamool Congress leadership has said that the raid and search operations were attempts by the BJP to divert attention from the ongoing sit-in-agitation of Trinamool Congress in front of the Raj Bhavan over alleged negligence on part of the Centre in releasing central dues to the West Bengal government under various centrally- sponsored schemes like MGNREGA.

Meanwhile, the Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, who is currently in Darjeeling in north Bengal, now has decided to cut-short his tour there and return to Kolkata on Sunday afternoon only. However, it is not yet clear whether he will meet the Trinamool Congress leaders, including the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who have been in sit-in agitation in front of Raj Bhavan since Thursday afternoon.