Kolkata, Nov 3 (IANS) Former West Bengal Forest Minister Jyotipriya Mallick, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers in the ration distribution scam, was attacked in front of his house in the Salt Lake area of Kolkata, police said.

According to the police on Sunday, Mallick was attacked by an unidentified person.

The attacker punched the former Minister in the face and threw him on the road.

The accused youth was arrested by the police after the incident.

According to police sources, Mallick, who is also known as Balu da, came to his house in Salt Lake from Habra in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday.

He also has an office in his house at Salt Lake.

The former Minister was attacked while entering his office.

A youth came and punched Mallick in the face due to which the latter fell down on the road.

He kept screaming for help.

At that time, a few Trinamool Congress workers, who were in Mallick’s office rushed to stop the youth.

According to Trinamool Congress sources, the youth was eager to hit Mallick that even three or four people could not stop him.

Mallick was finally rescued after more Trinamool workers joined in.

The police were quickly informed about the incident.

After reaching the crime spot, policemen arrested the youth.

The former Minister suffered minor injuries to his face. However, he is currently fine and did not need to be admitted to the hospital.

After the police arrested the accused youth, Mallick inquired about him.

According to sources close to Mallick, the Trinamool MLA does not know the accused.

He also checked the CCTV footage of Mallick’s house.

After examining the footage, the Trinamool MLA came to know that the youth had been waiting in front of the house since 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The accused had disappeared once. However, after some time, he reappeared in front of Mallick’s house and attacked him as soon as he reached there.

However, it is not clear why the accused attacked the Trinamool MLA.

Incidentally, Mallick was recently involved in the ration distribution scam case.

He was arrested by the ED in 2023.

After spending 14 months in jail, he was released on bail on January 15.

Mallick remained in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Cabinet of Ministers for a long time even after his arrest.

Later, he was removed as a Cabinet Minister in the West Bengal government.

–IANS

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