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Journalism of Courage
On the run for 55 days since the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided his house, Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) strongman in Sandeshkhali Shahjahan Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal Police on Thursday.
Sheikh and his aides are among the key accused in cases of land grab and sexual harassment that surfaced following violent protests in Sandeshkhali island of North 24 Parganas district.
The arrest came days after the Calcutta High Court had clarified that there is no stay on Sheikh’s arrest and it had only stayed a single judge’s order on February 7 to constitute a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations that ED officers were attacked while trying to conduct raids at Sheikh’s residence (on January 5). During the hearing, the bench also pulled up the state government for failing to arrest Sheikh for more than 50 days.
Who is the TMC strongman from Sandeshkhali?
Shahjahan Sheikh has had a steady rise in the TMC in the last 10 years, joining the party in 2013, two years after Mamata Banerjee came to power in Bengal.
In 2018, he became the up-pradhan of the panchayat and his rise in the party began. Sheikh was the sabhapati of the Sandeshkhali unit of the TMC, and last year won a zilla parishad seat. He is also North 24 Parganas’s ‘Matsa Karmadhakshya’, that is, in-charge of the district’s fishery development.
That appointment was not surprising given Sheikh’s ownership of a string of fishery units in the area, falling in the Sunderbans, as well as brick kilns.
“Sheikh owns a number of brick kilns and controls over 200 bighas of fisheries. He also owns or controls local wholesale fish markets, and a processing centre for baby shrimps, which he delivers to fish farmers throughout Bengal,” a source had told The Indian Express.
Another source said the reason for Sheikh’s clout is “both fear and respect”, as well as his proximity to senior TMC leaders, particularly Jyotipriya Mullick. It’s this that has kept his so-called system of justice afloat. “From family feuds to disputes over land, people now turn to him more than the police or courts. He settles such matters at the party office or the panchayat office,” a local had said.
However, the TMC strongman is not new to political rows as in June 2019, just after the last Lok Sabha polls, BJP and TMC workers clashed in Sandeshkhali, under which Sheikh’s village Sarberiya falls. A BJP worker and a TMC worker were killed in the clash, and Sheikh was among those named in a murder FIR. His name was later removed from the chargesheet which the police submitted in court.
What has been happening in Sandeshkhali?
On January 5, an ED team had gone to Sandeshkhali to raid the home of Sheikh in connection with the ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities in the state’s public distribution system. Shahjahan’s supporters attacked the ED team and injured three officials. They had also helped Shahjahan escape.
On February 8, some local women carrying brooms and sticks had blocked the main road in Sandeshkhali and demanded the immediate arrest of Shahjahan and his two aides, Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, whom they accused of sexual abuse and harrassment.
The next day, women protesters attacked Hazra’s properties and set fire to his poultry farm which they said had been set up on illegally grabbed land.
The simmering anger against Shahjahan was fanned by the failure of the police in apprehending him. After Hazra’s farm was set ablaze, police imposed prohibitory orders, and several women allegedly received threats from TMC goons. The police, who had arrested Sardar and Hazra, had initially denied allegations that the women were raped, but later filed cases against local TMC leaders.
