The Calcutta High Court reserved its verdict on transferring the investigation into sexual abuse and land grab allegations levelled by the women of West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali against jailed and suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday.
Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested and suspended from the Trinamool Congress last week.
Following his arrest, the Calcutta High Court stated that the court had “no sympathy” for the Trinamool leader, thus asking his lawyers to appear before it on March 4, when a suo motu motion on alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing of tribal people at Sandeshkhali will be heard.
During the hearing, the lawyers appearing for central agencies, CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the state police acted in collusion with the accused and the matter needed to be transferred to the CBI.
However, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju told the court that the state police did not do anything and mischievously arrested him in specific matters to defeat the investigation.
He said, “Let him be sent to CBI custody otherwise his arrest is a farce. It will not lead to an investigation and no one will get custody after 15 days. The matter has to be heard immediately.”
“If there is a joint investigation, information will be leaked because the police collude with the accused. The main accused is a member of TMC,” he added.
The Attorney General, appearing for the Bengal government, said unrelated cases were being dragged into the transfer matter, adding that central agencies were not cooperative.
“Investigation is a state subject and that’s why Bengal Police shall be the one probing,” the Bengal AG said.
Responding to him, ASG SV Raju said, “Our allegations were not against Bengal Police. We alleged that we were assaulted because a minister was involved. The FIR was diluted, and the offence of Section 307 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) wasn’t added.”
A six-member fact-finding team of an NGO on Sunday went to some villages in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, which has been witness to widespread protests over allegations of sexual atrocities and land grabs by local TMC leaders.
Former chief justice of Patna High Court, L Narasimha Reddy, who is leading the team, said they will visit three villages at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district.
The NGO had moved the court, claiming that the police stopped them from going to Sandeshkhali on February 25, and sought its direction to allow them to visit the area and speak to victims of alleged atrocities.
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