Sandeshkhali violence: SC says it will consider request for urgent hearing

Villagers in Sandeshkhali have pointed fingers at Sheikh Shahjahan, an influential TMC leader of the area, for alleged atrocities. He has been absconding ever since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned him in the alleged ration allotment scam.

The plea said, “The terror of the said Sheikh Shahjahan in the said area is further evident from the fact that on January 5 this year, when a team of ED officers went to raid Sheikh’s house in Sandeshkhali in connection with alleged irregularities in the PDS scheme the goons of the said Sheikh Shahjahan attacked the said ED officers in which three ED officers were badly injured and left bleeding.”

After the incident, an FIR was filed against the ED officers which was stayed by the Calcutta HC on January 11, 2024, it said.

Alleging “inaction by the local police authorities”, the petition said this “is evident from the fact that… Shahjahan is absconding and has not been arrested till now”. “Furthermore, there are serious allegations of the local police authorities acting hand in glove with” him “at the behest of the ruling dispensation and thus, it is further in the interest of justice to transfer the investigation of this case to CBI or a SIT under the monitoring of this Hon’ble Court”.

The plea cited a report published by The Indian Express on February 15, wherein some victims “claimed they had faced incidents of molestation by the accused persons but they kept silent out of fear”.

Srivastava said it “thus… seems impossible that the victims would come forward to truly share their plight, if the investigation… is left to be conducted by the state police authorities”.

The petition stated that the National Commission for Women had “found in its enquiry that the police have filed complaints against the relatives of women victims instead of filing their complaints and that the said victims are being threatened by local police, deterring them from coming out and reporting instances of sexual and physical harassment”.

The advocate also pointed out that a single bench of the SC had on February 14 stayed the trial in the 2021 Assembly poll-related violence cases going on in the state. The order came on a plea by the CBI, which sought transfer of the trial in these cases outside the state alleging threats to witnesses, and counsel.

The plea said that like in the Manipur atrocities matter, “there is a need for the appointment of a court-mandated committee for hearing and healing and for restoring the confidence of survivors and the families of victims of violence, particularly sexual violence against women” in the Sandeshkhali matter too.