A local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader was chased by angry villagers and took shelter at the house of another local at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on Sunday, even as the party’s leadership continued to grapple with the villagers’ allegations of land grab and torture against its leaders.
Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that the party was not shielding its absconding leader Shahjahan Sheikh, adding that Mr. Sheikh had not been arrested because the Calcutta High Court had stayed the investigation against him. The High Court had, earlier this month, stayed the probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the State police against Mr. Sheikh in connection with an attack on officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
During the day, groups of women chased the TMC’s Ajit Maity, whom they accuse of land grab and torture, in Sandeshkhali. Mr. Maity took shelter in the house of a local villager in the presence of television news channels. Groups of women holding brooms laid siege outside the house where Mr. Maity hid, police stood guard for hours protecting him. Mr. Maity said that he was forced to join the TMC in 2019 by Mr. Sheikh’s brother, and that he would quit from all party posts. He was rescued from the house and detained by the police later in the evening. Mr. Maity was assaulted by locals on Friday, following which the police made certain arrests.
