Shahjahan walks into court with defiant body language
Sandeshkhali local TMC leaders and strongman Sheikh Shahjahan reached a court in West Bengal this morning. He was produced in court hours after he was arrested in connection with a mob attack allegedly of members of his gang on a team of Enforcement Directorate officials on January 5. Followed by policemen, he strode into the court. His body language was defiant as he wagged his fingers at assembled media persons who were shouting out questions to him. He was arrested after being on the run for 55 days straight.
Sheikh Shahjahan has some pretty serious allegations levelled against him by residents of Sandeshkhali, an island in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The Trinamool strongman and his aides have been accused of land grabbing, extortion, and intimidation. To add to the list, allegations of sexual harassment have also come up against him and his gang levied by local women of Sandeshkhali.
Bengal police, which arrested Shahjahan yesterday, has said a Calcutta High Court order had tied their hands. In his interaction with the media, senior Bengal police officer Supratim Sarkar questioned why the central agency did not arrest Shahjahan.
The court had subsequently clarified that it has not stopped the state police or the Enforcement Directorate or the CBI from arresting him.
Enforcement Directorate alleges Shahjahan was with Bengal Police all along
Sources from the federal agency have responded right back, alleging that the pace and timing of the strongman’s arrest indicates that Shahjahan was with them.
“The High Court gives a clarification and Shahjahan is instantly arrested. This proves that he was with them. The court had paused action in one case. But why was Sheikh Shahjahan not arrested despite being named in three murder cases. He also faced a non-bailable warrant in connection with an attack on power department officials,” said an ED official. “Why was he not arrested despite allegations of sexual harassment and land grab?”
To rewind to the incident of early January, an ED team was attacked by a huge mob on the day when it went to raid Shahjahan’s house. The raid was in connection with his role in the alleged ration distribution scam in the state.
“We had information that there was a huge cache of arms and cash worth crores at his home. That’s why the mob attack was engineered and Shahjahan was helped to flee. The role of Bengal police as well as the state government in hiding away the arms, cash, and Shahjahan’s phones must be investigated,” the official said.
The official further added that custodial interrogation of the strongman is necessary to get to the bottom of the alleged ration distribution scam and allegations of land grab. “We are watching the actions of Bengal police.”
Earlier, the ruling Trinamool Congress had said that a high court order was impeding the state police’s crackdown against Shahjahan. “If the High Court ties the hands of state administration (then) what can be done? After the January 5 incident – when it was claimed ED officers were attacked – the central agency filed a complaint and the High Court ordered the constitution of a SIT with state police and central agencies,” Trinamool MP and general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said on Sunday.
“Around 10-12 days later, ED appealed for stay in the High Court. The plea was accepted. This means they did not want any investigation, arrest, summons, or interrogation,” he added. The Trinamool leader is the nephew of party chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In his address, he had insisted that the state government was not shielding the strongman nor did was there any intention. He drew attention towards the arrests of Shahjahan’s aides Uttam Sardar and Shibu Hazra.
The court later clarified that it had not barred the state police from arresting Sheikh Shajahan. “We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. There is only a first information report and he (Shahjahan) has been named as an accused. He is absconding. Obviously, he needs to be arrested,” the court had said.
Bengali