The Assam unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration on Sunday, burning an effigy of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to protest against the Sandeshkhali incident. The protesters called for a central agency inquiry and strict actions against the culprits.
Sandeshkhali, located in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, has been witnessing widespread protests following allegations against suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan. A section of women in Sandeshkhali accused Shahjahan Sheikh and his associates of land-grabbing and sexual assault under coercion.
After weeks of inaction, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested by the West Bengal police on February 29 and remanded to 10-day police custody by Basirhat Court. He is a key accused in cases of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault in Sandeshkhali.
Earlier, the Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court granted the CBI four-day custody of Sheikh in connection with the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate team in Sandeshkhali. This decision followed a directive from the Calcutta High Court, which led to the Crime Investigation Department handing over custody of Sheikh Shahjahan to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Trinamool Congress and the opposition’s INDIA bloc, stating that the West Bengal government remains indifferent to people’s struggles and sufferings. He highlighted issues such as the creation of 25 lakh fake job cards to benefit TMC’s ‘tolabaz’ (extortionists) and the atrocities committed against Dalit and Adivasi women in Sandeshkhali.
“The TMC government gives money to people chosen by ‘tolabaz’. It does not affect TMC when you are struggling or suffering. The entire country is discussing what TMC leaders did to the Dalit and Adivasi women of Sandeshkhali. Atrocities against women and looting the hard-earned money of the poor, this is what TMC’s ‘tolabaz’ do,” PM Modi said.