The police in West Bengal have finally ‘found’ the absconding TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and arrested him, after weeks of protests by the local women and unsuccessful attempts by the ED team.
ANI reported that the West Bengal Police arrested Sheikh Shahjahan from the Minakhan area in North 24 Parganas. The SDPO said that the TMC leader would be taken to Basirhat Court at 2 PM today (Thursday, 29th February).
The arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan has come after weeks of protests by the local women who have been voicing their outrage against the institutionalised sexual exploitation, rape, property encroachment, and corruption they have suffered at the hands of the influential TMC leader and his goons.
Interestingly, the West Bengal police have clarified that Sheikh Shahjahan has not been arrested for the sexual exploitation of women in the Sandeshkhali area. They have stated that the arrest is for the attack on ED team on January 5 and the complaints of sexual exploitation and rape are “old cases” that would need time to investigate.
The incompetency of the Bengal government machinery and the state police was so stark in the case that on 20th February, the Calcutta High Court slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led-West Bengal government for failing to arrest ‘absconding’ Sheikh Shahjahan, responsible for the violence and unrest in Sandeshkhali village. During the hearing, the court observed, “He (Sheikh Shahjahan) cannot be encouraged by State dispensation. There is a prima facie material to show he has done damage…”
“This person cannot be on the run. There will be law and order problems. He is a public representative. He cannot be defying the law. Let’s see whether he can appear before the Court,” it noted.
The BJP has been claiming that Sheikh Shahjahan has been under the protection of the state government machinery and the Mamata Banerjee government is not only helping him, but actively involved in preventing his arrest and protecting him from the ED.
On Wednesday, 28th February, just hours before Shahjahan’s arrest, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari made a sensational claim. Adhikari stated that Shahjahan was picked up in Bermajur – II Gram Panchayat area by the police, but he managed to negotiate a deal through influential mediators, and after that, he will be properly taken care of while he will be in police and judicial custody. Adhikari also stated that the ‘arrest’ will be a farce and Shahjahan will be accorded ‘5-star’ facilities in custody. He will be provided with a mobile phone to virtually run his political and financial empire.
It took 4 years for the police to make chargesheets: Calcutta HC slams Bengal police
On Monday, 26th February, the Calcutta HC had come down heavily on the police and Bengal government. “It is surprising to note that incidents in the area were reported to state police four years ago and that it has taken four years for the cases to mature into 42 chargesheets”, the High Court said.
The court further asserted, “A wrong impression has been created as if an interim order of stay of arrest has been given. There is nothing on record to say that such a stay is in place. Therefore he should be arrested.”
‘Abhishek Banerjee lied’, there was no stay order against Shahjahan’s arrest by Calcutta HC
In a blatant lie to hide the government’s unwillingness to arrest the absconding TMC leader, TMC general secretary, MP, and CM Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee had claimed that the state police ‘cannot’ arrest Sheikh Shahjahan because there is a “stay order” on his arrest by the Calcutta HC.
“TMC govt is not shielding Sheikh Shahjahan, he is protected by Calcutta High Court stay order against his arrest on an ED appeal” Banerjee had claimed. When the media asked when he was planning to visit Sandeshkhali, the MP stated that he would visit ‘when the time is right’.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had soon responded, saying that Banerjee is telling a blatant lie and there was no stay order or legal tangle to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan.
The Calcutta HC soon clarified the misleading claims, asserting that there is no such ‘stay’ order on Shahjahan’s arrest and the state police is free to arrest the absconding TMC leader.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, taking a su moto case, directed the High Court registry to issue a public notice in newspapers informing that Shahjahan Sheikh is wanted by the police as he is on the run and has not been seen in public since January 5.
How Mamata Banerjee herself tried to dismiss and whitewash Sandeshkhali horror, and shame the victims
Speaking at the State Assembly on Thursday, February 15, the TMC supremo gave a clean chit to her aide Shahjahan Sheikh and instead pinned the blame on the BJP and the RSS.
Further displaying complete apathy towards the women victims who have come on camera and spoken about the atrocities meted out to them by the TMC goons, Mamata Banerjee claimed that those who are covering their faces and are speaking to the media are BJP workers and she would get them arrested.
Giving a clean chit to her aide Shahjahan Sheikh and his supporters whom the local women of Sandeshkhali have accused of land-grabbing and sexually assaulting them under coercion, Mamata added that there are no records of rape with the West Bengal police. She hinted that the women of Sandheskhali have not been wronged and that this is a conspiracy hatched by the BJP to target TMC’s leader Shahjahan Sheikh.
संदेशखाली पर ममता बनर्जी का बयान, बोलीं- "संदेशखाली पर बीजेपी झूठ फैला रही है, झूठ फैलाने वाले लोगों को पकड़ा जा रहा है.."#WestBengal #SandeshkhaliViolence #MamataBanerjee #BJP pic.twitter.com/oZ3kffvofB
— India TV (@indiatvnews) February 15, 2024
The Bengal CM focused on claiming that the area has been a ‘bunker’ for the RSS-BJP for several years and insinuated that the claims of the women victims are fake, and floated as per a plan by the RSS-BJP.
“We are looking into the Sandeshkhali situation, no one involved in any wrongdoing will be spared, the BJPs’ target was a leader of the Trinamool Congress (Shajahan Sheikh),” Mamata Banerjee told the state Assembly. She even blamed the media, stating that the ‘fake media’ that is highlighting the issue should be ‘shut down’ and ‘real media’ should function.
On Wednesday (14th February), West Bengal Police shared from their X handle that no allegations about the rape and sexual exploitation of women have so far been received in connection to the events in Sandeshkhali.
As per reports, the West Bengal police, working at the behest of TMC supremo and CM Mamata Banerjee has been accused of shielding the accused TMC leaders, instead of taking action. Reportedly, during the protests, police accompanied the Trinamool Congress workers and harassed the protesting women.
Moreover, it emerged that instead of taking action against the accused, the WB police filed cases against relatives of victims for making complaints. This was revealed by Rekha Sharma, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women.
‘Show me video proof of rape’: TMC spokesperson Jui Biswas
On Friday (16th February) Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) spokesperson Jui Biswas asked for the video footage from West Bengal as proof of the rapes against women in Sandeshkhali. She made this bizarre statement during a debate on DD News. Biswas was participating in the program ‘5 Ki Panchayat’ on DD News with four other panelists.
When the anchor asked, “The politician who is the main accused in the Sandeshkhali case is from your party and you say that the investigation will also be done by your party only. How exactly fair it seems?”
Jui Biswas responded, “Similar cases have happened in other states. Did anybody ask such a question at that time? In Hathras, it was even proved that the rape crime did take place. Show me a single piece of evidence or a single video footage to prove that rape took place. This all is a show staged by the BJP.”
I want rape footage then only I'll believe that rape happened – TMC spokesperson
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) February 18, 2024
I'm speechless! I never knew people could be so shameless. The worst part about this is, it's coming from a woman herself.#SandeshkhaliHorrorStory #Sandeshkhali pic.twitter.com/Gt6EyETBeO
Nusrat Jahan, the filmstar TMC MP of the Bashirhat constituency under which the Sandeshkhali area comes, has been absent from the scene. She has been partying, celebrating Valentines’ Day, and attending celebrity events in her world of glitz and glamour. When questioned about the plight of women in her constituency who have been facing years of sexual exploitation and rape at the hands of a leader of her own party, Nusrat Jahan replied that she has been unable to visit Sandeshkhali because ‘Section 174’ is in place there. The TMC MP had no idea that it is ‘Section 144’ and not 174.
Background of the entire case
On 8th February this year, hundreds of women in Sandeshkhali took to the streets to protest against land grabbing, non-payment of wages, and sexual violence committed by Trinamool Congress goon Sheikh Shahjahan and his two aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The women attacked Shahjahan’s illicitly obtained properties and set fire to a poultry farm owned by Shiba Prasad Hazra. They also surrounded the Sandeshkali police station and demanded the immediate arrest of the trio. The agitation in the village lasted for 3 days.
On 10th February, the local police imposed Section 144 in various areas in Sandeshkhali and also banned the use of the Internet in 16 panchayats scattered over the two blocks of Sandeshkhali-I and Sandeshkhali-II.
In a bid to pacify the angry villagers of Sandeshkhali, the TMC leadership suspended Uttam Sardar from the party for six years. The suspended TMC leader and Zilla Parishad member was subsequently arrested in the Sandeshkhali police station area. The police also arrested a former CPI(M) MLA named Nirpada Sardar in connection to the case on 11th February. On Friday (17th February), the police arrested TMC leader Shibu Prasad Hazra over land grabbing and sexual exploitation of women in Sandeshkhali.
The primary accused Sheikh Shahjahan, who was on the run from January 5 when the ED team coming to raid his properties in the PDS scam case was attacked and assaulted by his goons, managed to stay on the run for nearly 2 months.
Shahjahan had hit the headlines after an ED team coming to raid his residence as part of the investigation into the ration scam was brutally assaulted by a large mob. Shahjahan managed to flee on that day, and the ED’s attempts to nab him were all unsuccessful.
He started as CPI(M) leader Moslem Sheikh’s right-hand man, collecting money for him. He subsequently started to dabble in local fishing and real estate. In 2004, Sheikh entered politics as a union leader in brick kilns in Sandeshkhali. He then joined the Left regime in 2006. He 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.
In 2019, Shahjahan was named in an FIR on the murder of 2 BJP workers Pradip and Sukanta Mandal. However, he faced no police action. It is reported that most of his ‘goons’ are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. He had reportedly fled to Bangladesh after the murder of Pradip and Sukanta Mandal in June 2019.
Such was the power and influence of Shahjahan in the area and amid the TMC power circles that just days before the brutal attack on the ED team, Shahjahan stood on a podium addressing his supporters and proudly announced that no ED or CBI would ever be able to touch him. Declaring his devotion to Mamata Banerjee, Sheikh Shahjahan had declared that BJP workers and supporters would be ‘executed’ after the 2024 elections.
Yesterday, Mamata Banerjee’s spokespersons came out in full force to defend Shahjahan Sheikh, the criminal, who ordered attack on ED officials and media in Sandeshkhali.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 6, 2024
In a public speech on 1st Jan 2024, Shahjahan claimed that CBI and ED wouldn’t be able to even touch his… pic.twitter.com/wARh0GDy3O
A detailed report on Sheikh Shahjahan’s politics, crimes and career can be read here.
