Sandeshkhali (West Bengal): A team of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), which visited the troubled Sandeshkhali area in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal on Thursday, has received over 23 complaints of land grabbing, torture and sexual abuse during their interaction with locals.
NCST acting vice-chairman Ananta Nayak told reporters here that the team has also received complaints against a politician and they will submit a detailed report on the issue to the President.
"We have received more than 23 complaints from the local residents, so far. We will include everything in our report and will compare them with ground reports and our findings. Following that, we will submit a detailed report to the President," Nayak said.
Earlier in the day, the three-member NCST team first reached Dhamakhali Bazaar and then travelled by ferry to reach Sandeshkhali. Later they took a battery-operated three-wheeler and entered Sandeshkhali.
First they reached the Singhpara locality and after interacting with members of some tribal families, the team went to Sardarpara area and interacted with several persons, including women.
Earlier on February 15, a team of the National Commission of Scheduled Caste (NCSC) led by Arun Halder, vice-chairman (chairman in-charge), had visited Sandeshkhali and interacted with the locals to know about the alleged excesses committed against them by Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and goons aided and abetted by him.
The NCSC later on met the President and recommended imposition of President's Rule in West Bengal. Today's visit by the NCST team comes on the heels of a team of the National Commission for Women, which had reached Sandeshkhali to enquire about the situation on the ground.
The Commission chairperson Rekha Sharma had also advocated in favour of imposition of President's Rule after interacting with the locals of trouble-torn Sandeshkhali.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has, in the meantime, issued a notice to the West Bengal government and the Director General of Police in connection with the ongoing violence and human rights violations in Sandeshkhali. A NHRC team is scheduled to visit Sandeshkhali to conduct a detailed fact-finding exercise into alleged atrocities.
On January 5, a mob, allegedly owing allegiance to Sheikh Shahjahan and his accomplices Shibaprasad Hazra alias Shibu and Uttam Sardar, attacked an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team which had gone to Sandeshkhali to conduct a search in the premises of the Trinamool Congress strongman in connection with a ration scam.
Shahjahan has been absconding since then. Soon after the incident, both Shibu and Uttam went into hiding while local residents vented their anger by torching properties belonging to them. Both Shibu and Uttam have been arrested later, while many women have accused Shahjahan and his supporters of land grabbing and sexual assault under coercion.
