Shahjahan Sheikh In CBI Dragnet, Mamata Worried

Nearly two months after his armed goons attacked and injured a raiding team of Enforcement Directorate officials, the much dreaded and “suspended” TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh was handed over to the CBI on directions of the Calcutta High Court.  TMC leadership delayed the handing over to CBI by hours in spite of two court directives by claiming it had moved the Supreme Court. What surprised Delhi political circles was that more than the accused, the TMC regime was averse to handing him over to the CBI. It was as if West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was worried about having Shahjahan in CBI custody. That’s why Union Minister Hardeep Puri lashed out against West Bengal for moving the apex court against transfer of the probe to the CBI. “One can understand if the aggrieved person –the accused– had filed a plea. Why is the state government rushing in here?” Significantly, action on Shahjahan came on a day PM Modi gave a clarion call at Basirhat rally that “storm of Sandeshkhali” will reach every part of West Bengal; he had also met with women victims Sandheshkhali soon after the rally. The island village of Sandeshkhali in the North 24 Parganas district has been in the eye of the storm since January 5, when ED officers arrived to search the home of Shahjahan. The ED team came under attack from an angry mob, leaving three officers injured. On February 7, other violent protests began erupting in Sandeshkhali and other areas, mostly by local women, alleging sexual harassment and land grabbing by Shahjahan and his men.