ED Takes Suspended TMC Leader Shahjahan Sheikh into Custody After 4-Hour Questioning in PMLA Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday took custody of suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who is accused of alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali. Sheikh had been in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) since March 6.

The central probe agency took custody of Shahjahan after a four-hour interrogation earlier today at the Basirhat sub-jail, where he is currently serving judicial custody. He will now be produced before an ED special court.

The ED interrogated him inside the jail after obtaining permission from the Basirhat sub-divisional court in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

An ED official told news agency PTI that Sheikh was also “shown arrested” after allegedly failing to cooperate with the central agency during questioning. The official explained that even when a person is in judicial custody, they can be shown arrested in connection with any number of other crimes registered elsewhere.

“He has been non-cooperative when our officers questioned him inside the jail this afternoon. So we decided to arrest him,” the officer added.

The suspended TMC leader was handed over to the CBI by the West Bengal Police on March 6 following the order of the Calcutta High Court.

Sheikh was arrested by the state police on February 29, a day after the Calcutta High Court ruled that the CBI, ED, or the West Bengal Police could arrest him. He had been on the run for 55 days following violent protests led by women, who alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing.

Sheikh had also been evading arrest since an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team, which had gone to search his house in connection with an alleged ration scam, was attacked by a mob of around 1,000 people on January 5.

Known to residents as ‘Betaj Badshah’, Sheikh Shahjahan is an influential figure associated with the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, a border area in the North 24 Parganas district.

(With inputs from agencies)