Kolkata: Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said TMC leader Sahajahan Sheikh, the key accused in the assault case on ED officials, is still present in Sandeshkhali area of West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, despite his efforts to illegally cross over to Bangladesh.
Sheikh has been on the run since Friday's mob assault on Enforcement Department (ED) sleuths during a raid at his residence in connection with the ration distribution scam. Adhikari, citing information from local TMC leaders, claimed, "Sahajahan Sheikh tried to cross over to Bangladesh illegally but failed. He is still hiding in the Sandeshkhali area. I think the local police and administration are aware of it, but they are waiting for a nod from their political masters, the TMC."
Adhikari, a former TMC leader who had switched over to the BJP ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, claimed that under the Trinamool rule, law and order have completely collapsed in Bengal. Notably, Adhikari's remarks came amidst West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose expressing apprehensions that Sheikh may have "crossed the border" and instructed authorities to arrest him immediately and investigate his alleged connections with terrorists.
The governor's statement, issued late Saturday night, highlighted his directive to the police chief to promptly apprehend the culprit. The ruling TMC swiftly responded to Adhikari's claims, urging that both central agencies and state police "must interrogate" the BJP leader. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "If he is aware of so many things, then I think he must be interrogated by the central agencies and police."
Incidentally, Adhikari had shared a purported audio message of Sahajahan on social media on Saturday, in which the TMC leader claimed innocence and alleged that the ED raid was a BJP conspiracy to malign the TMC government. The authenticity of the audio clip could not be independently verified by PTI. Meanwhile, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar met Governor Bose on Sunday and submitted a letter urging immediate and decisive action to restore the law and order situation in the state.
