Panchayat Pradhan Jiauddin Mollah and two others who have been arrested are considered to be close aides of suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan. The central agency took over the probe into the January 5 attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in Sandeshkhali last week.

Meanwhile, the district administration yet again clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in three pockets of Sandeshkhali for three days until Wednesday. Section 144 has been imposed in three areas including Dhamakhali and Sarberia.

This came at a time when the CPM called for a public meeting at the Social Education Centre in Sandeshkhali on Monday afternoon. The meeting was finally held outside the area where Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed.

“I have not heard that Section 144 has been issued in Dhamakhali. I will look into it. The police gave us verbal permission. No written permission was given. A temporary stage has been erected and police didn’t object to it,” said one of the local party leaders in Sandeshkhali before the meeting.

On January 5, supporters of Sheikh Shahjahan attacked ED officials who had come to raid his home in connection with the alleged PDS scam in West Bengal that led to the arrest of minister Jyotipriya Mallick. Sheikh Shahjahan was also arrested on February 29.