Sandeshkhali row: Sheikh Shahjahan handed over to CBI; BJP accuses Mamata of protecting suspended TMC leader

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 6 : Amid a political slugfest between the TMC and BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the suspended Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan, the key accused in the Sandeshkhali extortion, land grab, and sexual assault cases, was handed over to the custody of the CBI on Wednesday, while the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party accused CM Mamata Banerjee of protecting Shahjahan.
Following the Calcutta High Court's directive, the Crime Investigation Department handed over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday.
The CBI took Sheikh Shahjahan to Joka ESI Hospital for his medical examination after getting his handover from the CID.
Issuing a contempt notice to the West Bengal CID, the Calcutta High Court observed on Wednesday that an investigation into the attack on ED officials should be handed over to the CBI and also the custody of accused Sheikh Shahjahan be given to the agency today.
Calcutta High Court also observed that state police have played hide and seek in the matter.
"The accused is a political influencer. The investigation should be handed over to the CBI and the custody of the accused by 4:15 pm today," the High Court said.
The TMC has approached the Supreme Court over the matter.
After weeks of no action, on February 29, TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police, after which West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded him to 10-day police custody.
Coming down heavily on CM Banerjee for protecting Shahjahan, West Bengal LoP and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said that the "Lakshmis and Durgas of WB will teach TMC a lesson very soon."
Sharing a photo of CM Banerjee on X with a scale of justice in which Sheikh Shahjahan outweighs women's dignity, Adhikari posted, "Mamata Banerjee - Protector of Sheikh Shahjahan On whose direction the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court's order was being defied deliberately? Why is Sheikh Shahjahan more valuable and important to Mamata Banerjee than all the Lakshmis and Durgas of West Bengal? The Lakshmis and Durgas of WB will teach TMC a lesson very soon."
Meanwhile, West Bengal MLA Agnimitra Paul alleged that if Shahjahan opens his mouth, a lot of things will be revealed about the state government.
Hitting out at CM Banerjee for protecting Sheikh, Paul said, "Mamata Banerjee is protecting him because if a goon like Sheikh Shahjahan opens his mouth, a lot of things will be disclosed about the state government in the open. Why does this government need him? What does a government that runs West Bengal have to do with a goon?"
The BJP leader accused the suspended TMC strongman of influencing the people of the state to vote for TMC with the use of force.
"Lok Sabha elections will be held soon. Sheikh Shahjahan and his goons go to every household in Basirhat and adjoining areas, threaten them, shoot them and dissuade them from voting for the BJP. Sheikh Shahjahan does all illegal businesses. Its funding benefits the government," she said.
Alleging that CM Banerjee provides official documents to Rohingyas, Paul said, "Last but not least, he (Sheikh) brings Rohingyas from the borders. Nationalist Muslims in West Bengal will not vote for TMC. Rohingyas will vote for them; Mamata Banerjee gets an Aadhaar card, a voter card, and a ration card for them. So, she is scared that if Sheikh Shahjahan is caught, he will spill everything with a little force."
The Bengal government earlier refused to hand over custody of Shahjahan to the CBI despite a Calcutta High Court order Tuesday to the police's criminal investigation department, or CID.
The West Bengal government on Wednesday sought an urgent hearing of its plea in the Supreme Court challenging a Calcutta High Court order that directed a CBI probe into the Sandeshkhali matter pertaining to an attack on Enforcement Directorate officials on January 5 this year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met the women victims of sexual assault in Sandeshkhali village of West Bengal on Wednesday, sources said.
The sources said, "They put forward their ordeal and the Prime Minister heard them patiently like a father figure. The victims were very emotional with the fact that the PM understood their pain".
After meeting PM Modi, a Sandeshkhali victim told ANI, "Thanking Prime Minister Modi, we told him openly about the atrocities being committed against every person. We told the Prime Minister how we were tortured... He assured us of help. We voted the Chief Minister to victory but she insulted us. She did not even talk to us. We felt very good after talking to PM Modi. We requested him to deploy the Central Force here because we have no faith in the state government."
Calling the women of Sandeshkhali, his parivar (family), PM Modi on Wednesday accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of shielding the accused in the Sandeshkhali case and said that it is a "matter of shame."
"Under TMC's rule, the women of this land have been tortured. Whatever happened in Sandeshkhali will put anyone to shame but the TMC government does not care about your issues. TMC government is hell-bent on saving the perpetrator. Their acts were first condemned by the High Court and then the Supreme Court as well. TMC leaders have committed atrocities on the women of the state. Leaders of TMC are torturing the women from poor, Dalit, and Adivasis groups. TMC government trusts its leaders more than it trusts the women of Bengal. TMC has full confidence in their leader but not in the women of West Bengal," the Prime Minister said.
Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district had been witnessing widespread protests against 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.