"TMC never takes any step to shield any offender": Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya on arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 29 : After the arrest of absconding TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who was on the run for 55 days, West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the TMC has never taken any step to shield any offender.
West Bengal Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said, "We have always said that we never take any step to shield any offender. He has been arrested because he is an accused. Sheikh Shahjahan has also been suspended from the party for 6 years."
She further said that in the past also the party has suspended many leaders.
On the accusation of the BJP that the accused was untraceable for close to two months, she said that there were so many offenders in the BJP who were not being arrested.
"There are so many offenders in the BJP who are not being arrested. No action is being taken against anyone," she said.
Responding to a question that the opposition BJP felt that the accused was in the safe custody of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, she said, "If the BJP feels so, then they could have gone to the high court and mentioned the place where he was hiding. They have not done so, so they should not make hypothetical statements."
Taking a dig at the TMC government and West Bengal Police over the arrest of absconding strongman and Sandeshkhali accused Sheikh Shahjahan, and, his 10-day remand, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi on Thursday said he has been put under the 'mehman-nawazi' (hospitality) of the state police in a bid to avoid arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and the CBI.
Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police on Thursday morning in connection with an alleged assault on ED officers during a raid in January earlier this year.
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."
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.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose called Shahjahan's arrest an 'eye-opener', adding that it is only the 'beginning'.
"Today in Bengal, we see the beginning of an end. The arrest of the prime accused in the Sandeshkhali incidents is an eye-opener for everyone. This is only the beginning. We have to put an end to violence in Bengal," Ananda Bose said.