Unrest that spread from an island to the mainland, allegations of tribals’ land being taken away, a fear of alienating the women vote bank, and a relentless opposition are among factors that forced the Trinamool Congress government’s hand and led to the arrest of its leader Sheikh Shahjahan, leaders from the party and the opposition say. The final push, though, came from the Calcutta High Court which, on Wednesday, ruled that central agencies can arrest Shahjahan. Soon after, the Bengal Police picked up the TMC strongman who had been absconding for 55 days since his followers assaulted an Enforcement Directorate team. This is a departure from previous cases, wherein central agencies made an arrest once the High Court transferred the case into their hands. Take the example of: Anubarata Mondal, TMC strongman and Birbhum district president. Mondal faced cases of intimidation and murder dating back to 2013, but was not questioned by the police. It was on August 11, 2022 that the CBI arrested him in cases pertaining to alleged cattle smuggling and money laundering. Later, the ED took him into custody and he was sent to Tihar jail. Partha Chatterjee, former education minister and industries minister. He was allegedly involved in the primary teachers recruitment in schools. While he was not questioned by the state police when an alleged recruitment scam came to light, Chhatterjee was arrested by the ED on July 23, 2022 after a 20-hour search at his home. Jyotipriya Mullick, former food minister. FIRs were lodged by the state police in connection with alleged ration scams at three different police stations in May 2020. However, Mullick was not investigated. Later, the ED arrested one Bakibur Rehman, a businessman and alleged aide of Mullick. And, on October 27 last year, Mullick was arrested after being questioned for 22 hours at his residence. The Sandeshkhali agitation first started roughly a month after Shahjahan went missing, when women took out a march in the village raising allegations of sexual abuse by TMC leaders for years. The women said they were called for late-night meetings under the garb of self-help group gatherings and harassed by TMC men. They said they were speaking up freely now since Shahjahan was on the run and no longer wielded enough influence. Simultaneously, allegations were raised that families, many from tribal communities, had lost agricultural land to TMC men who forcibly converted it to fisheries. Initially, the TMC denied the allegations, calling them part of a BJP conspiracy. The police too denied the claims, but as more women came forward, they made a volte face and registered complaints. According to party leaders, what shook the TMC was the women refusing to back down even after the arrest of Shahjahan’s aides and TMC leaders Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar. Despite the arrests, the women kept ransacking the homes of party leaders. A senior leader said, “The whole rank and file of the party were confined to their homes, more women were coming forward with allegations, and tribal land had clearly been taken over. Our leadership realised we were losing ground in South Bengal. It also posed a risk of denting a vote bank which stood firmly with us in the 2021 assembly polls – that of women..” The TMC and state police, on their part, insist the High Court had posed a hurdle in the arrest. ADG South Bengal, Supratim Sarkar, said, “ED officials were hurt in an attack (when they tried to search Shahjahan’s home on January 5). The ED Deputy Director filed a complaint and the investigation began. Later, they requested the court for a stay on the investigation and it was granted. This is why we had legal obstructions in taking action in the case.” “Media and others say the police did not arrest Shahjahan deliberately. I want to say this is wrong, propaganda. We had legal obstructions,” said Sarkar. “When the court said there is no hold on arrest, we began extensive searches. We had legal obstructions but the ED didn't. Why didn't they arrest him? This question must be raised.” The arrest, though, has done little to blunt the opposition attack. BJP state president Sukanta Majumder said the TMC government was “compelled to make the arrest due to the continuous agitation by the BJP”. “The government was in denial mode. They were not even accepting that such a thing had happened,” he said. CPIM leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “TMC bowed down in front of a people’s movement. The investigation should be proper and the ED should be given an opportunity to interrogate him.”
