Hours after his arrest, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday suspended strongman Shahjahan Sheikh for six years. With this, Shahjahan will lose all party posts that he used to hold. The TMC leader has been at the center of a massive political firestorm in West Bengal recently, following violent protests led by local women in Sandeshkhali.
Reeling from unrest, TMC leader Derek O’Brien in Kolkata announced Sheikh’s suspension from the party for six years.
“We have decided to Suspend Sheikh Shahjahan from the Party for six years,” O’Brien said.
Sheikh, accused of sexual abuse and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday after being on the run for about 55 days.
After the arrest, he was taken to the Basirhat court, which sent him to 10 days in police custody.
Police said Sheikh was arrested in two cases lodged at the Nazat police station in connection with an assault on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers on January 5 during a raid at his house in a ration scam case.
He was booked under IPC sections 147 (guilty of rioting), 148 (guilty of rioting being armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 333 (whoever voluntarily causes grievous hurt to any person being a public servant) and 392 (robbery), they said.
The West Bengal CID on Thursday took over the investigation of cases lodged against TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, who was arrested from Minakah in North 24 Parganas district, a senior official said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor who on Monday night had given a 72-hour “deadline” to the state government for Sheikh’s arrest, said, “There is always light at the end of the tunnel. I welcome it.”
“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. What we see is only the tip of the iceberg. ‘Gundaraj’ is very much there in many pockets of Bengal. Strong action has to be taken,” the Bengal Governor added.
