CBI, ED free to arrest TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, rules Calcutta high court

Kolkata: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) can arrest Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, who has been on the run since January 5, the Calcutta high court said on Wednesday.
“The person couldn’t be apprehended for a substantial period of time. The court has only stayed the constitution of a special investigation team. Therefore, it will be well open to the CBI or the ED also to arrest the absconding accused,” said a division bench of chief justice TS Sivagnanam and justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.
The court was hearing a series of petitions related to the recent Sandeshkhali unrest. Shahjahan, a zilla parishad leader of the ruling TMC, is a prime accused in the case related to the attack on ED officials on January 5, when they had gone to raid in place in an alleged ration scam. He is also said to be the key accused behind the Sandeshkhali unrest.
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Sandeshkhali, a village in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas has been on the boil since February 7 after the village women hit the streets demanding the arrest of Shahjahan and his aides over allegations of land grabbing and sexual assault. Earlier, his close associates Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, were arrested by the Bengal Police.
On Monday, the Calcutta high court paved the way for the arrest of Shahjahan by the state police, brushing aside claims by the state government that there was a stay on apprehending the strongman dismissing the claims that the judiciary had tied the hands of the state police in arresting him.
The bench said that there was no record in any cases relating to incidents at Sandeshkhali that there was a stay on Shahjahan’s arrest. Hours after the high court’s remarks, the TMC said that Shahjahan would be arrested in seven days.
Advocate general Kishore Datta for the state had informed the court that at least 43 first information reports (FIR) have been registered involving Shahjahan in the last four years. Barring one, in which a probe is going on, police have filed the charge sheet in all other cases.
The court said that it would examine at a later date whether the investigations, in those cases, were correctly done and what were the sections included. The bench stated that state police cannot shrug responsibility in not apprehending the person, who has been absconding.
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Additional solicitor general SV Raju had told the court that if the state police arrested him, they would dilute the case. The CBI and ED counsels said they have serious reservations against the state police. It was also alleged that the police were colluding with the absconding accused.
Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari has alleged that Shahjahan has been in the safe custody of the state police since last night.
“Recently Adhikari had even given the name of a village claiming that Shahjahan was hiding there. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has already said that Shahjahan couldn’t be arrested because earlier the high court had given a stay. The stay has been lifted. The state administration is working unbiasedly. Shajahan would be arrested soon,” Santanu Sen, TMC MP had told the media.