Close to two months Sheikh Shahjahan was reported untraceable in the wake of the attack on an ED team, which was on its way to raid his residence
Our Bureau
New Delhi
In a major breakthrough on Thursday, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police in connection with an alleged assault on ED officers during a raid in January earlier this year. West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose called Shahjahan’s arrest an ‘eye-opener’, adding that it is only the ‘beginning’.
Sandeshkhali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district had been witnessing widespread protests against TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a section of women were seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of “land-grab and sexual assault” under coercion.
Close to two months after Sheikh Shahjahan was reported untraceable in the wake of the attack on an ED team, which was on its way to raid his residence in the North 24 Parganas in connection with the alleged ration scam, the TMC strongman, who is also alleged by the women of Sandeshkhali to have perpetrated grave atrocities along with his henchmen, was arrested by West Bengal police on Thursday morning.
His close aide, Aamir Ali Gazi, was also arrested by West Bengal Police from Jharkhand.
Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, who filed a PIL in the Supreme Court and sought an independent probe in the Sandeshkhali incident, said on Thursday that it was surprising that after court allowed the CBI and ED to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, within a few hours he was arrested by the West Bengal police.
Meanwhile, Shahjahan’s close aide, Aamir Ali Gazi, has been arrested by West Bengal Police from Jharkhand, police said on Thursday.
Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended Sheikh Shahjahan from the party for six years. TMC leader Derek O’Brien held a press conference here today and said that by the time West Bengal Police was given freedom, it took two days to arrest the culprit.
“All India Trinamool Congress has decided to suspend Sheikh Shahjahan from the party for six years. There are two types of political parties, one is who only talks but TMC walks the talk. This is not the first time we are doing this; we have done it in past too. Mr Modi, we dare you to suspend Narayan Rane, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Suvendhu Adhikari. But you will not do as you are not from TMC,” he said.
Lawyer Raja Bhowmick, who represented Shahjahan in court, said, “14-day police custody (of Sheikh Shahjahan) was demanded, but the court allowed 10-day custody.””On March 10, he will be produced in court again,” he said.
“It is very surprising that after a few hours of this, the accused was arrested by the police. In the last 55 days, he was not arrested,” he added.
Further, he said that the Supreme Court has advised him to go to Calcutta High Court with his PIL.
After the arrest of absconding TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who was on the run for 55 days, West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the TMC has never taken any step to shield any offender. West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, “We have always said that we never take any step to shield any offender. He has been arrested because he is an accused. Sheikh Shahjahan has also been suspended from the party for 6 years.”
Taking a dig at the TMC government and West Bengal Police over the arrest of absconding strongman and Sandeshkhali accused Sheikh Shahjahan, and, his 10-day remand, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday said he has been put under the ‘mehman-nawazi’ (hospitality) of the state police in a bid to avoid arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the CBI.
But after the suspension of Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Shiekh for 6 years by the TMC, Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched a scathing attack on West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, saying that she has set a standard for appeasement.
He said that Mamata Banerjee is saving people like Shahjahan and allowing such people to play with the dignity of Hindu women.
“Mamata Banerjee saved Shahjahan in such a manner that no sections of women harassment have been registered against him. You have set a standard of appeasement. You took a long time to arrest him. For votes and appeasement, you are saving people like Shahjahan and allowing such people to play with the dignity of Hindu women,” said Union Minister Giriraj Singh.
