West Bengal Police Refuses To Hand Over Sheikh Shahjahan To CBI

Going against the orders of the Calcutta High Court, West Bengal's Trinamool Government on Tuesday refused to hand over TMC leader Shahjahan Shiekh, who is the main accused in Sadeshkhali land acquisition and rape cases. However, the court had ordered state police to hand over TMC leader to the CBI for interrogation in connection with the January 5 attack on Enforcement Directorate officers.

According to the reports, a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today reached West Bengal Police Headquarters, Bhabani Bhawan, to take custody of Shahjahan Sheikh following the court's order, but had to return without TMC leader.

Earlier today, Calcutta High Court's divisional bench ordered the West Bengal administration to hand over Sheikh Shahjahan to the CBI, noting that the West Bengal police "underplayed the entire situation" as the accused was on the run for over 50 days.

For the unversed, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested on February 29 by West Bengal police.

In reply, the West Bengal government has moved to the Supreme Court to challenge Calcutta High Court's order. A representative from Mamata Banerjee's government told the media that state police had arrested Sheikh Shahjahan and state police want to investigate the matter to bring the reality to light and serve justice to the people of its state.

Earlier, a team of the Enforcement Directorate was attacked by the locals of Sandeshkhali when they raided Sheikh Shahjahan's house in connection with the alleged multi-crore ration distribution scam.

West Bengal Police has also arrested Shahjahan's two allies after several women complained of sexual harassment and land grabbing cases.