55 Day Search Ends : TMC Leader Sheikh Shahjahan Finally Arrested, Sent To 10-Day Police Custody ; TMC Lauds West Bengal Police ; Governor CV Ananda Bose Welcomes It

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Absconding TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, accused of alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, was arrested on Thursday morning after being on the run for 55 days, West Bengal police said.

Advocate Raja Bhowmick, Lawyer of TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan told ANI , ” …Police sought 14 days custody (of Sheikh Shahjahan) but the court gave 10 days…on 10th March, he will be produced in court again”

He was arrested from a house in Minakhan, around 30 km away from the island of Sandeshkhali on the outskirts of Sunderbans, in North 24 Parganas district, they said.

Sheikh was hiding in the house along with a few associates, they added. After the arrest, he was taken to the Basirhat court, police said.

He is at present in the court lockup, a police officer told PTI, adding that he will be produced before a judge later in the day.

Sheikh was taken into custody within 24 hours of the Calcutta High Court stating that the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) or the West Bengal Police can arrest him.

Governor CV Ananda Bose, who had on Monday night given a 72-hour “deadline” to the state government for Sheikh’s arrest, said, “There is always light at the end of the tunnel. I welcome it.”

The ruling Trinamool Congress said the arrest was possible as the court cleared the decks, while the BJP dubbed it as scripted.

“Due to a legal tangle, he couldn’t be arrested initially. However, after the court clarified that there was no stay on his arrest, the West Bengal Police did its job. The opposition had earlier exploited the embargo on his arrest,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh told PTI.

“We had said he would be arrested in seven days as we were confident of the ability of the state police,” he said.

The opposition BJP claimed the state police were forced to arrest Sheikh because of its agitations.

“It was the TMC and the state police which were shielding the culprit. He has been arrested now as a part of a well-scripted story. The state administration was forced to arrest him because of the continuous agitation led by us,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumadar said.

Sheikh was traced with the help of his mobile phone’s tower location, a police officer said.

“Shiekh was changing his location from time to time. He was spotted with the help of his mobile phone’s tower location,” he said.