Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh arrested after 55 days, was absconding after the attack on ED team.
Local Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who was absconding for about 55 days, was arrested on Thursday. The court had ordered the arrest of the accused of Sandeshkhali violence.
Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali violence in West Bengal, was arrested on Thursday. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shaikh was absconding after the attack on the team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials. The police arrested him on the orders of the Calcutta High Court. The accused will be presented in the court in the afternoon. At present he has been kept in lockup.
#WATCH | TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who has been remanded to 10-day police custody, brought to West Bengal Police Directorate, Bhabani Bhawan in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/kfm0iCAI3l
— ANI (@ANI) February 29, 2024
Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh arrested
Police said that Shahjahan Sheikh was hiding in a house in Meenakha in North 24 Parganas district, from where he was arrested. He told that after his arrest he will be presented at Basirhat court. A police officer said that he is currently in custody and will be produced in the court at 2 pm.
The women of Sandeshkhali of the district have accused Shahjahan Sheikh and his supporters Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar of sexual exploitation and usurping land leases. Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar were in police custody but Shahjahan Sheikh was absconding.
On the application of the State Advocate General, the High Court had ordered the arrest of Shahjahan Sheikh last Monday.
A single bench of Justice TS Sivagnanam, in its February 7 order, had stayed the formation of a joint Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and West Bengal Police to probe the attack on the ED officials. Later the court found that Sheikh was absconding for a long time. After which the court had directed that CBI and ED are free to arrest Sheikh.
Permission to send message to Fact Finding Committee
Earlier on Wednesday, the High Court allowed the fact-finding team that arrived from Delhi to visit Sandeshkhali. Last Sunday, representatives of the committee had tried to go to Sandeshkhali. But the police stopped them midway. The committee had approached the High Court. After this, the division bench of High Court Justice Kaushik Chandra allowed him to go to Sandeshkhali.
BJP’s two-day dharna regarding law and order
At the same time, the state’s opposition BJP is continuously attacking the government on this issue. His protest continues against the poor law and order situation in Sandeshkhali and the alleged atrocities of TMC leaders. Top leaders of the state unit of the party on Wednesday started a dharna near the statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. During this, BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that law and order has completely collapsed in Bengal.
Sandeshkhali Row: Who is Shahjahan Sheikh?
Local sources told that he came to India after crossing Bangladesh years ago and started working in the fields and brick kilns here. Apart from these works, he also drove a boat and a carriage. This continued for a few years. This was that time in the politics of West Bengal. When the Marxist Communist Party was at the top. People say that in the year 2002, Sheikh formed a union of brick kiln workers. He thought when I became the leader of that union, I came into the notice of CPI(M).
People say that by the year 2010, Shahjahan had decided that he would distance himself from CPI(M). It was decided to move closer to TMC. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee ended the 34-year rule of the Left and formed the government in Bengal. Shahjahan also considered it necessary to flow with the wind and joined TMC in the year 2012.
Shahjahan Sheikh’s influence had increased. There was a lot of money also. A news reports that in the Panchayat elections, he had described ‘business’ as his source of income and had said that his earning was Rs 20 lakh annually.
But his wealth relative to his earnings raises many questions. According to news, he has 17 cars and 43 bigha land. He has jewelery worth around Rs 2 crore and a bank balance of around Rs 2 crore. Local people say that this is also less he has much more money than this.