NIA summons Kolkata officer amidst TMC's 'secret meeting' with BJP leader allegation: report

National Investigation Agency's Kolkata officer Dhan Ram Singh was reportedly summoned to Delhi amidst allegations from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that he held a secret meeting with BJP leader Jitendra Tiwari, days before TMC workers were arrested in connection with a 2022 blast case.

Though senior officials dubbed it a routine visit, News 18 outlet, quoting sources reported, that the TMC's allegations prompted the NIA headquarters to issue summons.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that a DIG-rank officer has been sent by the NIA from Patna to West Bengal to supervise cases.

The whole row erupted after a team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on Saturday when it went to arrest two main suspects in a 2022 Bhupatinagar blast case in Purba Medinipur district.

It later sparked a political slugfest with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting the villagers.

On Sunday, TMC held a press conference in which its spokesperson Kunal Ghosh claimed that days Tiwari met the NIA SP for 52 minutes on March 26, and two TMC workers were arrested from Bhupatinagar on April 6 in connection with a 2022 blast case.

Tiwari, however, rejected the charge and demanded an apology from the TMC.

“If it is proved that we held any such meeting, then I will leave politics. Feeling the pressure, the TMC is trying to brand the NIA raid as a political conspiracy. According to the laws of our country, they (TMC) should prove the allegations against me. Apologise if you can’t prove it, or I will file a defamation case within seven days,” he said.

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