Kolkata:

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday handed custody of Sheikh Shahjahan – the former Trinamool strongman accused of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault in Bengal’s Sandeshkhali – to the CBI.

Bengal Police have till 4.30 pm to hand over Shahjahan and all relevant case materials.

The Bengal government moved swiftly to challenge the order in the Supreme Court, but its appeal for an immediate hearing has been turned down. The top court said it would proceed per the rules and asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi to mention the plea before its Registrar-General.

A High Court bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam set aside an earlier order setting up a special investigative team – of CBI and state police officials – and transferred the case to the central agency.

Both the Enforcement Directorate and the state moved separate challenges to that order; the ED wanted the case to be given to the CBI only, while the state wanted the police to handle the probe.

Sheikh Shahjahan had been on the run since January 5, when a team of Enforcement Directorate officials were attacked by a mob of his supporters while en route to conduct raids.

The attack and Shahjahan’s disappearance sparked a huge political row; the ruling Trinamool was targeted by the BJP, which accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party of protecting him.

On the run for 55 days, Shahjahan was finally arrested by a special police team and suspended from the Trinamool for six years. His arrest came three days after the High Court ordered his arrest.

READ | Sandeshkhali Accused Shahjahan, On The Run For 55 Days, Arrested

An angry court was responding to allegations by Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, who said the judiciary had “tied” the state’s hands and that his party was not “guarding” the accused.

“I want to put this on record… Trinamool is not guarding Shahjahan. Judiciary is. Lift the stay and see what police does…” he had said in response to the BJP’s allegations.

READ | Arrest Trinamool Strongman Sheikh Shahjahan, Says Calcutta High Court

The court shot back, saying, “Shahjahan obviously needs to be arrested.” “We clarify there is no stay on arrest in any proceeding. He is absconding,” the court declared.

READ | “Mutual Adjustment”: BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari On Shahjahan’s Arrest

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari – a former Trinamool leader and close aide of Ms Banerjee – declared, “This is not an arrest; this is a mutual adjustment.”

The Shahjahan-Sandeshkhali row was the focus of a sharp attack by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was in Bengal last week. Mr Modi also accused the Trinamool of shielding its former member, and slammed Ms Banerjee for valuing “some people” over the suffering of women.

READ | PM’s Big Charge Against Mamata, INDIA Over Sandeshkhali

Referring to the party’s ‘Maa, Maati, Manush‘ (Mother, Land, and People) slogan, he declared, “What has been done to women in Sandeshkhali by Trinamool… has made the country angry.”

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Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal:

BJP MP Dilip Ghosh has alleged that Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) strong man and a prime accused in Sandeshkhali violence and atrocities against women, Sheikh Shahjahan, brought “votes” and “money” to TMC and that’s why he is not getting arrested.

In a serious allegation, Ghosh also accused the top official of the West Bengal police of helping Shahjahan, who has been on the run since February 5, after a mob, that was allegedly affiliated with him, attacked ED officials.

“Shahjahan will not be caught because this government does not want to. People like him bring votes and money to the TMC. The DG who was himself is running from CBI, how will he catch him (Shahjahan)… He (DG) was missing for 2-3 hours yesterday, where was he? He went to meet Shahjahan and assured him to not worry… Mamata Banerjee is not going to Sandeshkhali because she does not have the courage to face the anger of the people,” said Mr Ghosh.

The members of an independent fact-finding committee led by former Chief Justice of Patna High Court L Narasimha Reddy were detained by West Bengal Police on Sunday when the team was en-rote to Sandeshkhali to probe alleged incidents of atrocities on women.

Fresh protests erupted in Bermajur area of Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on Sunday as women took to the streets to demand the immediate arrest of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ajit Maity.

Amid the protest, the Trinamool Congress removed Ajit Maity from his post. He was TMC Anchal President. Protesters have alleged that Ajit Maity, a close associate of Shahjahan Sheikh, was also involved in land grabbing and extortion in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali.

West Bengal’s Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, has also come up with similar allegations and said that West Bengal police will not arrest Shahjahan because he controls votes.

“Mamata Banerjee’s police will not arrest Sheikh Shahjahan because he controls the votes. If he is arrested, then TMC will lose the Basirhat seat. The hearing is on March 6 on CJI’s bench. We hope that the case will go to CBI and Shahjahan will be in jail within 24 hours,” he said.

“Strictest action should be taken. Sheikh Shahjahan should get capital punishment. The CBI and NIA investigations should happen. They should take appropriate action as soon as possible. The people of Sandeshkhali and the entire West Bengal are waiting for it,” he added further.

The BJP leader also pointed out that Section 144 imposed by the state government is only to prevent BJP leaders.

“This section 144 is imposed only to prevent BJP leaders, MLAs and MPs. It is illegal. It is politically motivated. The state government is using Section 144 to hide the situation inside,” Adhikari said.

“Under PM Modi’s government, ED and other investigative agencies have the freedom to work; hence, the incident of Sandeshkhali is in front of the entire country,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)