Shahjahan’s network lies beyond Bengal — in Nagaland, Bangladesh, too

No rural strongman in the recent past has dominated political discourse in West Bengal as much as Shahjahan Sheikh, the incarcerated TMC leader whose alleged criminalities in Sandeshkhali have for the first time made the ruling party appear vulnerable.

Shahjahan, after all, is not just any other party toughie. He fashioned himself as betaaj badshah, the uncrowned king of Sandeshkhali and the last word in the area. So much so that his supporters attacked and chased away a team of Enforcement Directorate and Central armed forces that had gone to raid his Sandeshkhali house on January 5 in connection with a multi-crore ration scam.

Extended influence

Investigators tracking his crimes say his clout was not just limited to the Sunderbans’ quaint Sandeshkhali island. His influence extends from Dimapur in Nagaland to neighbouring Bangladesh, the investigators believe.

He raised a “private army” with illegally procured armed licenses and weapons, an investigator told The Federal. They lord over the island openly wielding firearms.

Shahjahan, who is reportedly capable of shooting with both hands, himself possessed four firearms. His “bodyguards” and associates too used to be armed to the teeth, carrying guns and pistols.

While investigating the source of the suspended TMC leader’s lethal arsenal, the police came upon his networks in Nagaland and Bihar.

Using the address of a house in Dimapur, Shahjahan procured several fake armed licences from Nagaland, sources said. Fake licences are sold for Rs 2-3 lakh in Nagaland, and they are then used to procure weapons from arms shops or ordnance factories.

Expensive cars

Police also found a whiff of his link with illegal arms rackets in Bihar. The police are trying to recover all arms and trying to ascertain whether Shahjahan’s gang had developed a link with Nagaland’s insurgent groups that procure sophisticated arms through illegal international arms trade. Shahjahan owned a foreign-made weapon, according to police sources.

The 42-year old Shahjahan owned a fleet of expensive cars and bikes and a slew of properties, some even in Bangladesh, according to ED officials who are investigating his role in the ration scam. The ED on Tuesday attached assets worth over Rs 12 crore of Shahjahan in various parts of West Bengal.

Shahjahan has also allegedly parked his ill-gotten money in garments and real estate business in Bangladesh, according to preliminary findings of the agency. He also reportedly owns properties there.

Humble beginnings

He started off as a helper at a passenger vehicle that plied between Sandeshkhali and Sarberia in North 24 Parganas district some 20 years ago. Then he got into the fish business and became close to a CPI (M) MLA. There was no looking back since then. He started controlling brick kilns, fish, shrimp and other businesses in the area.

To be on the right side of the power, he in 2013 switched allegiance to the TMC that came to power dethroning the CPI (M)-led Left Front in 2011.

The TMC’s influential leader of North 24 Parganas district, Jyotipriya Mallick, took him under his wing and allegedly shielded him from the long arm of the law.

Before his rise to national infamy following the attack on ED officials, Shahjahan’s name figured in several cases including an FIR over the death of two persons in a clash between TMC and BJP supporters in Sandeshkhali after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Violent man

He even reportedly got away with assaulting power department officials a few years ago, due to political backing.

Things went out of control when, taking advantage of Shahjahan going underground to evade arrest by ED, a group of women from Sandeshkhali led an uprising seeking his arrest. They accused Shahjahan and his associates of sexual assaults and land grab.

The uprising soon became a major political issue, forcing the TMC to plunge into a damage control exercise.

Arrested, finally

The West Bengal police finally arrested the absconding TMC leader on February 29. He was on the loose for 55 days.

The ED expressed apprehension after his arrest that the TMC leader’s political clout would come in the way of police investigations, leading to a legal tussle between the central agencies and the state government.

The West Bengal government on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order earlier in the day that directed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into allegations that Shahjahan and his men attacked ED officials.