After fleeing for 55 days, Sheikh Shahjahan, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, was apprehended on Thursday morning in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. Sheikh Shahjahan was accused of sexual assault and land grabbing by multiple women.
Aminul Islam Khan, a senior police officer, announced that the 53-year-old Trinamool strongman would be appearing in court today after being taken from the Minakhan area of North 24 Parganas. The arrest occurs three days after the Trinamool leader’s arrest was ordered by the Calcutta High Court, which censured the state police for their tardiness in acting against him.
Shajahan Sheikh and his allies have been accused by many women in Sandeshkhali of landgrabs and forced sexual assault. For over a month, the riverine area has been the center of protests calling for the capture of Sheikh and his associates.
In response to the arrest, West Bengal BJP President Suvendu Adhikari stated that the Mamata Banerjee government was compelled to act because of the BJP’s persistent agitation.
Denial was the government’s mode. We would force the government to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, as I had previously stated. He said that the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan by the government and Mamata Banerjee is necessary because of the BJP’s and the women’s agitation in Sandeshkhali.
Since January 5, when a crowd purportedly connected to him attacked Enforcement Directorate officers who had gone to search his property in connection with a scam, Shajahan has been missing. Fifty complaints of land grabs and sexual abuse against the Trinamool leader and his associates have been filed by tribal families with the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. 400 of the nearly 1250 complaints that state government representatives reported they had received had to do with land-related matters.
On March 4, the High Court is scheduled to hear the case against Shahjahan. The Trinamool Congress leader may also be taken into custody by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), according to a Wednesday ruling by the High Court. But another Solicitor General of India, SV Raju, who was representing the ED, voiced concern that if Sheikh is arrested by the state police, the state police might weaken the case.
Sandeshkhali women were speaking out after many years of being exploited. It breaks my heart to hear about their claims of sexual and socioeconomic exploitation.
The chief minister of West Bengal and leader of the Trinamool Congress, however, has gone all out to refute this accusation.
The women of Sandeshkali have dismantled every statement made by Mamta Banerjee regarding the horrors of Sandeshkhali on video, occasionally hiding their faces out of fear of reprisals. The women of a village in the Sundarbans are fighting back against Sheikh Shahjahan, a local tribal leader, and his
The women of Sandeshkhali have dismantled every statement made by Mamata Banerjee regarding the horrors of Sandeshkhali on video, occasionally hiding their faces out of fear of reprisals. The women of a village in the Sundarbans are fighting back against Sheikh Shahjahan, a local Trinamool leader, and his supporters. They allege land grabs, systematic rape, failure to pay dues, and a close relationship between the criminal and police departments.
