Bengal Police Arrest Trinamul Leader Sheikh Shahjahan

Sheikh Shahjahan was taken into custody by Bengal police late on Wednesday night, 54 days after he was allegedly provoked into attacking an Enforcement Directorate team. This incident thrust him into the public eye and exposed his terror reign in Sandeshkhali, which included claimed land grabs and attacks on women.

The Trinamul strongman was apprehended from Bamanpukur in the vicinity of Minakhan police station, around 31 kilometers from Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas. He had been hiding since the January 5 mob attack on ED officers.

The Trinamul leadership had claimed a stated limitation as to why the police were unable to apprehend him, but the Calcutta High Court clarified two days later that there was no hold on his arrest. This is when the arrest occurred.

Second, two days before to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to Bengal, he was arrested by the police.

A political analyst said, "The state administration can claim brownie points by saying the police arrested Shahjahan within two days of the court clarification."

He said that Modi will be denied the chance to challenge the state government due to the timing of the arrest.

Supratim Sarkar, an assistant director-general of police (South Bengal), said, "We have arrested Sheikh Shahjahan, one of the prime accused in the attack on ED officials... from Minakhan area on Wednesday night."

Embarrassed by the tales of Shajahan and his allies abusing women sexually and grabbing property, Trinamul used the arrest as justification to brush off opposition claims that law and order was failing in Bengal.

Shahjahan's six-year ban from the party was another attempt to establish the party's moral superiority.

The arrest was described as a "mutual understanding" by the Bengal BJP, which has been trying to use Sandeshkhali politically in the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said that the party will go on with its demonstrations in the region.

Shahjahan was taken to the Minakhan police station upon his arrest, and from there he was sent to the Basirhat court prison. He appeared in court at around 10.30 a.m.

Media inquiries came up thick and fast as Shahjahan went along the court hallway wearing a white kurta, white pants, and white shoes.

Shajahan accelerated his steps and waved his right index finger in a defiant manner, his visage expressionless.

After seeing him up close at the court, a police source observed, "His swagger suggested he has no fear or regret."

During the hearing, the police brought up a number of grave accusations, including attempted murder and impeding the performance of official tasks by government officials. Shahjahan was placed into police detention for ten days by the court.

"On January 5, a deputy director of the Enforcement Directorate filed a criminal complaint with the Nazat police station against Sheikh Shahjahan on a number of accusations, including attempted murder. For his suspected participation in this specific instance, he was brought before the court on Thursday, according to assistant public prosecutor Arun Pal.

Following the assault on the ED officers who had come to search Shahjahan's home in Sarberia, Sandeshkhali, in connection with the PDS fraud, the Bengal police also filed a suo motu complaint against him at the same police station on January 5.

In this specific instance, Shahjahan was "shown arrested," according to Shahjahan's attorney Raja Bhowmick. "Under Section 41D of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), I had appealed to the court to be present during questioning. It was approved.

In light of the events on January 5, the police decided not to take a chance by holding Shahjahan in the vicinity and instead took him to the state police headquarters in Alipore, which is called Bhabani Bhavan. This was approximately 12.30 pm. He's been placed in a cell on the third level.

According to a source, "the case has been transferred to the CID; officers will start questioning him soon."

Although Trinamul celebrated the arrest as a victory, the opposition questioned why Shahjahan had remained unarrested for over two months after the January 5 allegation.

The chief of police in south Bengal, ADG Sarkar, refuted the accusation of delayed arrest by stating once again that Shahjahan's arrest had been impeded by a high court "stay." "Legal complications prevented the state police from apprehending Shahjahan following the January 5 incident," Sarkar said on Thursday.

"After the high court accepted the petition, the inquiry into Shahjahan had to be halted, since the ED had requested a stay of the proceedings. A few days ago, we launched an extensive search for Shahjahan when the court made it clear that his arrest was unrestricted.

Before we can make an arrest, we must gather evidence and look into the charges. This process takes time. There are accusations that Shahjahan's arrest was purposefully delayed. To be clear, this accusation is false in every way. We were bound by the law," Sarkar said.