Cong supporters smear black paint on ED office signboard in Patna

Congress supporters smeared black paint on the signboard at the office of the Enforcement Directorate here, where hundreds of party workers and leaders on Thursday gathered to stage a protest against summons issued to former AICC president Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case.

AICC in-charge Bhakt Charan Das, BPCC president Madan Mohan Jha and CLP leader Ajeet Sharma were among those who took part in the protest at the ED's Bank Road office here.

Some overenthusiastic supporters clambered on the boundary wall and defaced the signboard, ignoring warnings of police personnel and seasoned leaders.

Later, all the protesters were rounded up by the police and taken to a police station from where they were let off after a few hours.

Talking to reporters while being led by the posse of police personnel, Bhakt Charan Das said, ''We have no quarrels with the police. They are just doing the job. But the ED is harassing our leaders. They have interrogated Rahul Gandhi so many times. If they really had something to enquire from Sonia Gandhi, they could have visited her home.'' ''This shows a lack of respect for an elderly woman in poor health. It is also a ploy by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre to intimidate the Opposition,'' said Das amidst chants of slogans by party men denouncing the investigating agency.