"Never seen such a ruthless CM like Mamata...": Giriraj Singh on arrest of Sandeshkhali-accused TMC strongman

New Delhi [India], February 29 : Launching a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over the arrest of of absconding strongman and Sandeshkhali accused Sheikh Shahjahan, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday said that he had never seen such a 'ruthless' Chief Minister like Mamata Banerjee and alleged that accused Shahjahan was safeguarded by the state government.
"I have never seen such a ruthless CM like Mamata Banerjee. A man who is a rapist, a man who exploited women, was safeguarded by the TMC government just to secure minority votes," Singh said while speaking to ANI.
Close to two months after he was reported untraceable in the wake of the attack on an ED team, which was on its way to raid his residence in the North 24 Parganas in connection with the alleged ration scam, the TMC strongman, who is also alleged by the women of Sandeshkhali to have perpetrated grave atrocities along with his henchmen, was arrested earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded Trinamool Congress (TMC) Sheikh Shahjahan to 10-day police custody on Thursday.
Lawyer Raja Bhowmick, who represented Shahjahan in court, said, "14-day police custody (of Sheikh Shahjahan) was demanded, but the court allowed 10-day custody."
"On March 10, he will be produced in court again," he said.
Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had been witnessing widespread protests against TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a section of women were seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader.
A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including Sudhanshu Trivedi and Suvendu Adhikari condemned the TMC government alleging that the accused has been put under 'Mehman-Nawazi' of the state police.
Addressing a press briefing at the BJP headquarters in the national capital on Thursday, Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "After being reported missing and untraceable for close to two months, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested all of a sudden. However, no charges have been pressed against him for perpetrating atrocities on the women of Sandeshkhali and sending them inappropriate messages. It is evident that he was arrested under pressure from the high court (which cleared his arrest by the ED, CBI or state police) and the spontaneous uprising in Sandeshkhali, much against the wishes of the ruling party."
Questioning the claim of the state police that the absconding TMC strongman was arrested in the ED case, the BJP leader added, "If he was, indeed, apprehended in the ED case, after the court, as they claimed, lifted the lock on his arrest, why isn't the state police not handing him over to the central agency? In fact, from the circumstances around his arrest, it appears that he was in the safekeeping of the Mamata government in the immediate run-up to his apprehension. Now, he has been put under 'mehman-nawazi' (hospitality) of the West Bengal Police to avoid arrest by the ED and CBI," Trivedi said.
Explaining why he used the term 'mehman-nawazi', the Rajya Sabha MP said, "I deliberately used the term 'mehman-nawazi' because, if you cared to notice his body language and that of the police personnel around him, you would surely have questioned if his mannerisms were more befitting an actor than a wrongdoer.
"Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari also questioned Shahjahan's arrest, saying, "This is not an arrest but a mutual understanding."
"Bhaskar Mukherjee (DIG, Malda Range) took him (Sheikh Shahjahan) in a car to Palta and, thereafter, he was driven to Bhushi Ratil. This is not an arrest but a mutual understanding. Till such he is remanded in custody of the central agencies, the people, especially the women, of Sandeshkhali will continue to be deprived of justice. There was no stay on his arrest by the court. It was a falsehood spread by the ruling TMC to deceive the people. I would say it again and again: this isn't an arrest but a mutual adjustment," Adhikari told reporters.
Claiming further that the Sandeshkhali accused would be accorded five-star treatment in the custody of state police, the LoP said, "He will treated to 5-star facilities in jail. He will have access to mobile phones behind bars and will be able to run his writ in the area from custody. He will return to his illegal activities and thuggery from inside the jail."