A Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from East Midnapore district on Wednesday said he was summoned to appear for questioning by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a 2022 case hours before he was to file his nomination papers.
“NIA served the notice hours before I filed my nomination papers today. I have been asked to appear tomorrow,” Manab Kumar Parua, the TMC candidate from Bhagabanpur seat, told reporters.
Parua said he was required to appear for questioning before NIA at its Salt Lake office on Thursday morning. Parua was named in a supplementary charge sheet filed by NIA in this case in July 2024.
“The blast took place in Naruabila in December 2022. I appeared before NIA officers several times in the past and will continue to cooperate. But serving a notice at this hour is politically motivated,” Parua said.
Three people linked to TMC died in an explosion at a house at Naruabila village in East Midnapore’s Bhupatinagar area on December 3, 2022. The victims were identified as Raj Kumar Manna, the house owner and the TMC’s local polling booth committee president and TMC workers, Biswajit Gayen and Buddhadeb Manna.
NIA took over the investigation from the state police in June 2023 following orders from the Calcutta high court. The case triggered a political row after a NIA team, which travelled to Bhupatinagar, was allegedly attacked by a group of people on April 6, 2024.
NIA filed its charge sheet in July 2024, naming the three deceased and three others – Panchanan Ghorai, Manobrata Jana and Balai Charan Maity – who were arrested during the investigation. Parua and another TMC leader, Naba Kumar Panda, were named in a supplementary chargesheet filed the same month.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the NIA notice was intended to stop Parua from campaigning. “This is not the first time that federal agencies have been used for political gains,” Ghosh said.
NIA has not responded to the allegations.
Debjit Sarkar, chief spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bengal unit, countered the TMC. “The NIA did not take up the investigation on its own. The Calcutta high court ordered it. Let the TMC go to the court with its allegations,” Sarkar said.
