New Delhi: Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal, has alleged that the state police have taken Shajahan Sheikh, the TMC strongman of Sandeshkhali who is on the run, into “safe custody” since last night. The Trinamool Congress, however, has rubbished Adhikari’s allegation as “baseless” and an “attempt to create trouble in the state”, while maintaining that the police are doing their best to catch Shajahan.


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Adhikari, the MLA from Nandigram, posted on X that Shajahan was in police custody since 12 am after he “negotiated a deal with the police through powerful mediators that he would be treated well while in police and judicial custody”.


“He will have access to five star facilities during his time in jail and will have a mobile phone, through which he will be able to run the TMC virtually. Even a bed in Woodburn Ward (the VIP cabin in the SSKM Hospital) will be reserved and empty for him if he wants to spend some time there,” he alleged.



Adhikari’s allegation comes just two days after TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh’s statement that Shajahan would be nabbed within a week. Shajahan, the TMC leader who is wanted for sexually abusing women and grabbing their land in Sandeshkhali area in North 24 Parganas district, has been evading arrest for more than 50 days since a mob loyal to him attacked an ED team that raided his house in connection with a ration scam.


The locals have been protesting and demanding his arrest. TMC leader Santanu Sen, however, dismissed Adhikari’s allegation as baseless.


“Adhikari, to remain in the limelight, makes such claims from time to time that are not only baseless but also blatant attempts to disrupt the law and order situation. We don’t pay attention to his comments. The police are doing everything to catch Shajahan, just like they caught other accused party leaders in the area, Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar,” he said.


Women Demand Police Complaint Against TMC Leader


Women from the area have approached the police to lodge a complaint against Sheikh Shahjahan, the TMC leader who is accused of several crimes. A woman says, “We want to register a complaint. The conditions here are pathetic, there is no water from the taps, the electric poles are useless…We are living in terror. We are afraid of Sheikh Shahjahan and his goons…Why can’t he be arrested? He has been on the run for long. We want him to face the law, that he be hanged.”