Kolkata: The West Bengal government has refused to hand over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan – the former Trinamool strongman accused of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault in Bengal’s Sandeshkhali – to the CBI despite a Calcutta High Court order Tuesday to the police’s criminal investigation department, or CID. The court had directed the police to transfer custody of Shahjahan, as well as case materials, by 4.30 pm. At 7.30 pm a CBI team left the police HQ in Kolkata empty-handed. The reason – the state has approached the Supreme Court, and so refused to release Shahjahan till the top court’s ruling.
#WATCH | CBI team left from police headquarters in Kolkata. West Bengal CID did not hand over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan to CBI as the state government went to the Supreme Court regarding this matter. pic.twitter.com/sAJeWoihYK
— ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2024
Earlier today the High Court held the state police to be “totally biased” and called for a “fair, honest, and complete investigation” into the allegations against Shahjahan. “There can be no better case than this… which requires to be transferred (and) to be investigated by the CBI,” it observed.
The Calcutta High Court also transferred to the CBI the Sandehskhali case, which pertains to the attack on ED officials.
Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police last week from North 24 Parganas district in connection with an alleged assault on ED officers during a raid in January earlier this year.
Following Shahjahan’s arrest, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that Shahjahan had been put under the hospitality of the state police in a bid to avoid arrest by the ED and the CBI.
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.
Addressing a press briefing at the BJP headquarters in the national capital on Thursday, Trivedi said, “After being reported missing and untraceable for close to two months, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested all of a sudden. However, no charges have been pressed against him for perpetrating atrocities against the women of Sandeshkhali and sending them inappropriate messages. It is evident that he was arrested under pressure from the high court (which cleared his arrest by the ED, CBI or state police) and the spontaneous uprising in Sandeshkhali, much against the wishes of the ruling party.”
Sandeshkhali in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district has been witnessing widespread protests against Sheikh since February, as a section of women are seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader.
A large number of women in Sandeshkhali have accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of “land-grab and sexual assault” under coercion.