From Humble Beginnings to Alleged Terror: Rise and Fall of Sandeshkhali Strongman Sheikh Shahjahan

When Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury traveled to Sarberia, the home territory of Trinamul strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, in Sandeshkhali with relief supplies after Cyclone Yaas devastated large areas of coastal Bengal in May 2021, he is unlikely to forget how Sheikh Shahjahan's men ambushed his convoy.

The head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, as well as the minister for public education and libraries, had arrived in Sarberia-Agarhati gram panchayat with food and clothing to assist around 400 households. However, the upa pradhan, Shahjahan, did not allow him to go in.

A policeman stationed nearby at the time informed The Telegraph that "about 200 people armed with bamboo sticks stopped the convoy on Basanti Highway and asked the minister to leave the place."

"The locals informed him that no one could provide any relief supplies since it was "Shahjahan's region." The crowd went on the rampage, damaging the convoy's cars and stealing the humanitarian supplies as the minister fought with them. They also made threats to assassinate Siddiqullah Saheb while pushing and shoving him.

"A team from the Nazat police station finally rescued him and escorted him back to Calcutta," the cop said. Shahjahan was unharmed despite the minister's warnings to the police and party leaders.

Chowdhury responded in the affirmative when questioned by this publication on Friday whether he recalled the "hamla" (attack), but he also indicated he didn't want any new controversy. This reporter was informed by an unnamed Chowdhury aide that Shahjahan's men had threatened to assassinate the minister in front of the police. All we can say is that everyone is subject to the law and that those responsible for the horrors in Sandeshkhali will face consequences.

The event illustrates how, in many areas of the Sandeshkhali Assembly segment, Shahjahan—the son of a poor farmer who started his political career as a CPM worker in 2000—became a law unto himself.

On January 5, Shajahan's blatant hegemony over Sandeshkhali was exposed when his followers ambushed an Enforcement Directorate squad that had been sent to his residence in relation to PDS irregularities, which had resulted in the arrest of his chief supporter, minister Jyotipriya Mallick.

"He was capable of anything, including stopping a state minister and one of the tallest Muslim leaders." Shajahan was able to solidify his position locally thanks to his public display of his capacity to humiliate Siddiqullah Saheb, according to a state government official who had previously been stationed there.

In early 2000, Shahjahan, now 48, started his career as one of the leaders of a local auto-rickshaw operators' union that was supported by the CPM. He began his career as a political activist working for Muslem Sheikh, the Sarberia-Agarhati gram panchayat's then-CPM head.

His family comes from a very lowly background. In Sarberia, he used to wash vehicles and socialize with the leaders of the auto-rickshaw union. He had no portfolio; in CPM lingo, he was just a "party cadre," according to a villager in the area.

According to him, Shahjahan was one of the first of his native "comrades" to join the Trinamul Congress during the 2011 Bengali political upheaval.

According to a few peasants who talked with our reporter on the condition of anonymity, Shahjahan advanced through the Trinamul ranks quickly. Following the 2018 rural elections, he was appointed deputy chairman of the gram panchayat and secured a seat in the North 24-Parganas zilla parishad in 2023.

Sarberian market Sheikh Shahjahan.
Sarberian market Sheikh Shahjahan.
Dutta Biswarup
"What stands out about him the most is his business sense. He required water bodies because he realized early on that pisciculture was a money-spinner, according to a middle-aged guy who had known Shahjahan's family for decades.

According to him, Shahjahan started his pisciculture enterprise in 2013–14 by assuming a few farmers' leased property and turning it into bheris in accordance with formal agreements.

Around 2018, when he was appointed deputy head of the gram panchayat, his business strategy was altered. He started coercing farmers into signing lease agreements in exchange for not paying them the agreed-upon amount, according to a villager.

Due to the villagers' strong links to their ancestral property and the dearth of economic options outside of agriculture, such a large-scale land grab would not have been feasible without the use of force in this rural area.

The administration source, who has seen productive farmland methodically converted into bheris, said that the individual realized he could only continue his land-grab operation by persuading others that he was beyond the law and that complaints would not be made against him.

The PWD home where Uttam Kumar had lived while filming Amanush, next to the Sandeshkhali ferry ghat.
The PWD home where Uttam Kumar had lived while filming Amanush, next to the Sandeshkhali ferry ghat.
Image courtesy of Sanat Kumar Sinha
People from the area related a number of occurrences that demonstrated Shahjahan's unchecked authority.

"In June 2019, goons backed by Shahjahan and his aide Shib Prasad Hazra beat up then-Sandeshkhali-II block development officer Kaushik Bhattacharya in his office," a state government official said.

"The BDO had refused to pay a fake bill for around Rs 1 crore that was associated with a government project. Shahjahan was close to Minister Mallik, who is in incarcerated for his suspected role in the PDS (public distribution system) scandal, therefore nothing happened to him.

According to many district administration insiders, BDO Bhattacharya—who is now assigned to Malda—was the first to reveal Shahjahan's parallel government in the region. However, Bhattacharya's reporting proved ineffective, and after the event, he was sent to a region in north Bengal.

When this reporter reached Bhattacharya on Friday afternoon, he said, "I don't have any comments to offer."

The BDO, who had to be hospitalized after the attack, was hounded following the event because he was adamant about filing a police report, according to a former colleague of Bhattacharya.

At first, his effort to file a complaint was met with resistance by Mallick, the minister of food and supply at the time. The minister's guy, Shahjahan, was well-known to everybody," a top police official said.

Ultimately, a complaint was filed when Antara Acharya, the district magistrate at the time, intervened. A substantial amount that Shahjahan and his soldiers were suspected of embezzling had to be returned to the treasury. However, the insider said, "Shahjahan was spared any legal action."

An official brought up another instance from 2019 in which there was a disagreement over rates and Shahjahan and his goons reportedly "seized" a state transport bus.

"The transportation division stepped in, retrieved the bus, and saved the workers. However, Shahjan was not penalized, the policeman said.

He said that Shahjahan had such influence that some of his men, who were suspected of taking part in an event in 2021 that resulted in the death of a civic volunteer and the injuries of an assistant sub-inspector of police, were at large for months while he provided them with sanctuary.

"These people were finally forced to surrender before the police by Shahjahan," he stated.

"I remember how police teams from other parts of Bengal would come in search of a criminal and would be asked to get in touch with Shahjahan," a state government official said in response to claims made by the local police station that the villager's only option was to file a complaint with Shahjahan.

The claimed crimes against women, which are now a major political problem in the state, were a reflection of Shahjahan's goons' attitude of impunity.

"They dared call women over to the party office at ungodly hours because of their wealth, political clout, and belief that they were above the law," a middle-aged villager stated.

He said that the fact that more women are coming out and registering complaints is a positive trend in Sandeshkhali.

"People in this place were too terrified to report him. I believe that dread still exists to some extent. Even though Shahjahan left, ten to fifteen of his close friends remain, the man said.

"Although they are currently hiding, there's always a chance that these amanush—inhuman or vicious people—will start going after the complainants once the spotlight from the media fades."

Sandeshkhali, the location of the 1975 Bengali film Amanush, which starred Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, and Utpal Dutt, has a particular meaning for the term "amanush."

A number of individuals brought up the PWD cottage that Uttam Kumar had erected next to the Sandeshkhali ferry ghat during the filming of the movie. They related to the reporter tales they had heard from their elders of the celebrity's amicable interactions with the locals.

"Who knew that our lives would be ruined by a real-life Amanush?" Looking at the structure that is now referred to as the "Uttam Kumar Bungalow" locally, a lady commented.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.