A day after Sandeshkhali strongman Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested in connection with the mob attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team, the Trinamool Congress suspended him from the party for six years.
At a press meet to announce the move, party leaders had criticized the BJP and challenged it to act against tainted leaders in its ranks.
Senior party leader Derek O'Brien said the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress stands with the people and accepts “no-nonsense, whoever you are”. “If you hurt or would have hurt the people, we will do what we say,” he said.
Bengal minister Bratya Basu wondered why the BJP has not acted against leaders like Himanta Biswa Sarma despite several allegations against them. “The BJP is not the Trinamool Congress which will suspend a leader as soon as he is arrested. Because the other name of the BJP is washing machine. So if anyone from our party is suspended and then seen in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally, we have won don't be surprised,” he said.
The Trinamool leader said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had directed the Calcutta High Court to prevent the Bengal Police from arresting Sheikh Shahjahan, who had been on the run for 55 days. “They wanted to keep the Sandeshkhali issue alive till the Prime Minister's trip to Bengal. After our leader Abhishek Banerjee's comment about the stay of the Supreme Court and the clarification from the Supreme Court, we went ahead and arrested Sheikh Shahjahan,” the minister said. “Only the Trinamool Congress can set such an example.” The minister said people should remember Ms. Banerjee's example of “raj dharma”.
Trinamool MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar wondered why the ED did not arrest Shahjahan for so long.
Senior Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee had earlier alleged that a Supreme Court stay order against the strongman had tied the hands of the Bengal police. The court later clarified that the state police were free to arrest the strongman.
The Sandeshkhali strongman is at the center of serious allegations leveled by residents of the island in North 24 Parganas district. The residents have accused Shahjahan and his aides of land grabbing and extortion. Allegations of sexual harassment have also surfaced.
Shahjahan was on the run for 55 days and the BJP had accused the ruling Trinamool of protecting him. After his arrest, opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari said it was a “mutual agreement” between the strongman and Bangladeshi police. “Unless central agencies take him into custody, the people there will not get justice,” he has said.
Sharing a video of Shahjahan entering a Bengali court, BJP leader Amit Malviya said the Bengal police are “escorting Sheikh Shahjahan like they would escort CM Mamata Banerjee”.
“All these days, Sheikh Shahjahan was under the protection of WB police. As soon as the Calcutta High Court allowed ED and CBI to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, Mamata Banerjee's police took control of him,” he alleged.