KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered CBI probe into the attack on the officers of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Sandeshkhali, North 24 Parganas, and asked the state police to handover prime accused Shahjahan Sheikh to the federal agency within 4.30 pm with all documents related to the case.
Other than the attack on the ED in Sandeshkhali, the court also handed over another case of an attack on the officers of the federal agency in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas, where a raid was conducted at the house of a former chief of the local civic body in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam.
The division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam ordered the central agency to step in to probe into the incident that has become national outcry after a submission by the central agency on Monday demanding to involve a federal agency. The division bench also quashed a single bench’s order asking to constitute a special investigation team comprising the officers from the CBI and the state police.
On February 29, a day after the Calcutta High court gave central agencies like the ED and CBI free hand to arrest Shahjahan, the prime accused behind the unrest that has encapsulated in Sandeshkhali, the state police rounded up the TMC strongman from a hideout in North 24 Parganas 55 days after the attack on the ED.
The Bengal government moved the Supreme Court urging for an early hearing of its appeal against the high court’s order to handover the case to the central agency but the justice asked to approach the registrar general concerned for listing of cases.
While passing the order, the division bench emphasised the need for a fair and unbiased investigation, particularly because of the accused’s alleged political influence and connections with the ruling party.
In Sandeshkhali, ED officers were thrashed and left bleeding when they went to raid Shahjahan’s house on January 5 in an alleged foodgrain scam case that landed former food and supplies minister Jyotipriya Mallick in jail.
During his two consecutive day rally in West Bengal started on March 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the Sandeshkhali uproar, saying, “The country is witnessing the disturbing events in the area. The entire nation is in dismay, in anger over what happened with our mothers and sisters in Sandeshkhali."