New Delhi:

The CBI on Monday arrested three associates of TMC leader Shahajahan Sheikh, including his security guards, in connection with the January 5 attack on the Enforcement Directorate team, officials said.

The agency detained Sheikh’s security guard Didar Baksh Molla, the complainant in one of the three FIRs registered by the West Bengal police after the attack. These FIRs have been transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.

In addition to Bakshi Molla, the CBI also arrested Panchayat Pradhan (Jaiuddin Molla) and another person Faruk Akunji from Saberia village.

Officials said all three were close associates of Sheikh, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack.

“The documents will be submitted to the magistrate tomorrow,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

The CBI on Monday summoned nine of Sheikh’s close aides and associates for questioning in the case, officials said.

They said the agency suspected the nine persons of involvement in the January 5 attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials and incited a crowd to target the team when they went to raid Sheikh’s residence in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal .

Officials said Shaikh’s role in the attack is under investigation and he will be detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) until March 14.

The CBI has taken over the probe in three cases related to the January 5 incident when ED officials were attacked by a mob of around 1,000 while searching Sheikh’s residence as the agency probed an alleged ration distribution scam. A former state minister has been arrested in connection with the ration case.

Sheikh was arrested by the state police on February 29, a day after the High Court ordered that the CBI, ED or West Bengal police can arrest him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)