Kolkata, Feb 29 (IANS) Fifty-five days after the orchestrated attack on the Enforcement Directorate and Central Armed Police Forces personnel in Sandeshkhali, the absconding mastermind of the attack and local Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan has been arrested by the state police. The arrest comes after Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam’s observation that any investigating agency is empowered to arrest Shahjahan, against whom complaints of oppression have been piling for years.
Although the state police are tight-lipped on the exact time and place of the arrest, it is known that Shahjahan has been kept at a lockup within the premises of the Basirhat Sub-divisional court. He will be presented in court after the operations resume. The state administration was under pressure for not arresting him sooner as there were criticisms of him being sheltered by the state police.
There were claims that the state police were unable to arrest Shahjahan due to a stay on his arrest by the Calcutta High Court. However, Justice Sivangnanam clarified that there was no stay on his arrest, just on the formation of a joint investigation committee of CBI and the state police. Political observers believe the state police acted promptly after the Chief Justice’s statement.
Sandeshkhali had been in turmoil with protests against Shahjahan and his associates for years, especially regarding sexual harassment. The arrest of Shahjahan comes after significant pressure from various quarters. The situation in Sandeshkhali is tense as the people await justice for the alleged atrocities committed by the Trinamool leader.
–IANS
src/khz
