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West Bengal Police refuses to hand over Sheikh Shahjahan to CBI
The West Bengal Police action comes hours after the Mamata Banerjee government challenged the HC order that directed it to hand over Shahjahan to the CBI.
High drama unfolded in Kolkata as the West Bengal CID refused to hand over Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) despite the Calcutta high court orders.
The West Bengal Police action comes hours after the Mamata Banerjee government challenged the high court order that directed it to hand over Shahjahan to the CBI.
The central agency is probing the case pertaining to the attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials by Shahjahan's supporters in Sandeshkhali village on January 5. A three-member CBI team, flanked by CRPF escorts, had arrived at the CID headquarters, Bhabani Bhaban, on Tuesday to take custody of Shahjahan, who is also accused of land grabbing and sexual assault of women in Sandeshkhali.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the plea before the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. The top court asked him to mention it before the registrar general.
Shahjahan, 42, addressed as ‘Bhai’ by his supporters, had evaded arrest following the attack on ED officials in the North 24 Parganas village. On February 18, several women had come out in the open to accuse him and his aides Shibprasad Hazara and Uttam Sardar of raping them at the TMC office.
On February 26, the Calcutta high court had clarified that there was no stay on the arrest of Shahjahan, who should be arrested. Finally, the TMC leader was arrested from a house in North 24 Parganas district on March 1.
Sandeshkhali has become a flashpoint in Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaving no stone unturned to corner the ruling TMC government.
“The country is seeing what Trinamool Congress has done with the sisters of Sandeshkhali. The whole country is angry. The soul of Raja Ram Mohan Roy must have been pained by what happened in Sandeshkhali...the party was protecting the TMC leader and the police had to arrest him yesterday after the BJP leaders exerted pressure on the government,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said at a rally in Hooghly last week.
