TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan. File photo: X/Amit Malviya (Screengrab)
Sandeshkhali: Arrest TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan, says Calcutta HC
“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. Obviously, he needs to be arrested,” the court said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shajahan, who is accused of “sexual abuse and land grab” by Sandeshkhali villagers, should be arrested, Calcutta High Court said on Monday (February 26).
A Division Bench presided by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam directed that a public notice be given in newspapers by the high court registry stating that Shajahan has been impleaded in the matter, as he is on the run and not seen in public since a mob attack on ED officials on January 5.
On Sunday, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had asserted his party was not protecting. "The TMC is not shielding Shajahan Sheikh... We have a zero-tolerance policy against anyone committing any crime," he said.
Court questions Bengal police
“We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. There is only a first information report and he (Shajahan) has been named as an accused. Obviously, he needs to be arrested,” Calcutta High Court said.
The court also said it was “surprising” to see that no action was taken even after four years. “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 riverine Sandeshkhali area in North 24 Parganas district has been on the boil for more than a month with protests against local TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his supporters over allegations of land grab and sexual abuse of locals.
What TMC MP Abhishek said
Meanwhile, Opposition parties in West Bengal have accused the ruling TMC of shielding Sheikh.
Claiming that the state police cannot arrest Sheikh as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating cases against him in an alleged ration scam, Abhishek Banerjee told reporters, "Had it not been so, how come TMC leaders like Uttam Sardar and Sibu Hazra could be arrested by police, and removed from the party on basis of FIRs lodged against them?"
Sardar and Hazra were named in police complaints of alleged land grab and sexual harassment of women in Sandeshkhali.
"If curbs on state investigating agencies are lifted... you will see a different outcome, as the party will not protect anyone if found guilty," the Diamond Harbour MP said.
(With agency inputs)
