In another display of Mamata Banerjee’s authoritarian rule in the state, a police complaint has been filed against BJP leader Amit Malviya on Sunday (January 7). TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya filed a complaint alleging that Malviya ‘defamed’ the West Bengal Chief Minister in a social media post in which he questioned why WB authorities had not apprehended absconding TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, the alleged mastermind of the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials.
Malviya expressed concern about the ineptness of the West Bengal authorities, alleging that Sheikh’s escape would not have been possible without Mamata Banerjee’s patronage. The BJP leader added that Mamata Banerjee must instruct West Bengal police to arrest and hand Shahjahan Sheikh over to the central agencies.
“Shahjahan, who claimed to be a don of Sandeshkhali, is absconding. This would not have been possible without the patronage of Mamata Banerjee, who is also the Home Minister of West Bengal,” a part of Malviya’s post on ‘X’ read.
ED has issued a look out for Sheikh Shahjahan, the dreaded criminal and one of Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek’s trusted henchman. He is wanted for, among other crimes, in the massive Ration Scam (in which food supplies meant for the poorest of the poor in Bengal was sold… pic.twitter.com/OVB6XcXy50
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 7, 2024
Sharing a photo of Mamata Banerjee and jailed TMC leader Anubroto Mondal together in a car, Malviya added, “She has a track record of shielding criminals. Soon after the Bogtui massacre, Mamata Banerjee drove around with accused Anubroto Mondal in her official car. There is no doubt that Sheikh Shahjahan, wherever he is, is under her protection. But just like she couldn’t save Anubroto, she won’t be able to save Shahjahan too. Her blood soaked empire, built on crime, is crumbling…”
In response to the post, West Bengal’s finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya filed a police complaint against Malviya and the state urged police to take immediate action against Malviya and treat the complaint as an FIR.
An FIR has been lodged by @Chandrimaaitc for this derogatory tweet by @amitmalviya against the Hon'ble CM. pic.twitter.com/tFEgBvELbp
— Nilanjan Das (@NilanjanDasAITC) January 7, 2024
We have filed a police complaint and have urged police to take immediate action against Malviya for his defamatory remarks against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,” Bhattacharya told reporters.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal BJP criticised the TMC for trying to “use” the police to silence the truth.
“Whatever Amit Malviya has said is completely true. It is the TMC government which has been shielding the criminals, and this tendency has led to lawlessness in the state,” BJP leader Rahul Sinha said.
WB Governor asks authorities to arrest TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, investigate possible links to terrorists
On 6th January, the Governor of West Bengal, CV Ananda Bose, instructed authorities to arrest the Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh in the case related to the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials. The WB Governor expressed concern over the matter and said the TMC leader might have “crossed the border”. Reports suggest that he has instructed the authorities to immediately arrest Sheikh and investigate his alleged connections with terrorists.
The statement further noted that the complaint received by Raj Bhavan pointed out that Sheikh “may have crossed the border” and “may have liaison with the terrorists” that should be investigated immediately.
Shahjahan Sheikh- the mastermind behind attack on ED officials
On Saturday, January 6, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued a lookout notice for Shahjahan Sheikh, a block-level official of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). The move came a day after a team comprising officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), CRPF, and journalists en route to Shahjahan Sheikh’s residence in Sandeshkhali of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal was attacked and their vehicles were targeted.
The ED team had reached to execute a raid on the residence of Shahjahan Sheikh as part of an investigation into the ration scam when a mob of 800-1000 people, purportedly the supporters of Sheikh attacked the ED team. The ED had said that the mob attacked its officials “with an intention to cause death.”
Popularly referred to as ‘Betaj Badshah’, TMC’s Shahjahan Sheikh is an influential person in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, an area that is adjacent to the Bangladesh border.
Shahjahan joined the Trinamool Congress in 2013 and rose to prominence quickly, under the mentorship of West Bengal Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick and the then-TMC national general secretary Mukul Roy.
It is believed that Sheikh has played a significant role in the political party in power by aiding in the rigging of the Sandeshkhali area elections. Additionally, Sheikh’s name has always kept coming up whenever the ruling TMC has clashed with the BJP party in the state.
In fact, in June 2019, violent clashes erupted in Sandeshkhali post the Lok Sabha elections where TMC goons had clashed with BJP workers in the area. The clash led to the death of three BJP workers including Pradip and Sukanta Mandal. TMC’s Shahjahan Sheikh was named as an accused in the FIR filed in connection with the murder of these two BJP workers but he had escaped any sort of police action.
Shahjahan Sheikh is also an accused in the ration distribution scam brewing in West Bengal.
Public Distribution System Scam
On 26th October, ED raided the residence of West Bengal Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick in Kolkata in connection to a corruption case related to ration distribution. Mallick is a senior TMC leader serving as the forest minister of Bengal. Previously, he held the food minister portfolio. In response to the raid, CM Mamata Banerjee strongly criticised the central agency and accused the BJP-led government at the centre of using such actions as part of a “broader strategy” ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
