'Mamata needs Sheikh Shahjahan for funding': BJP blasts West Bengal CM over no action against TMC leader 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sharpened its attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and hinted that she was protecting her party leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who is accused of sexually exploiting several women. The state BJP leaders have been trying to meet the victim of Sandeshkhali but the local administration has imposed Section 144. 

On Thursday, a delegation of BJP MLAs tried to visit Sandeshkhali, but it was stopped. BJP's Agnimitra Paul blasted the chief minister, saying she needed Sheikh for funding in the election, which is why no action had been taken against him. "You (Mamata Banerjee) need Sheikh Shahjahan for funding for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, we know it. Your time is up. You could have taken action, but you remained silent, and now you want to silence us," she said.

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said he will move the Calcutta High Court on Friday. "Nobody can stop me. I will go to the court, and come back with full legal authority," he said, adding that he was prevented illegally and forcefully on the instruction of Mamata Banerjee. 

West Bengal Police hand in glove with rowdies: Bengal Governor submits report to MHA 

Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, who recently visited  Sandeshkhali, has submitted a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs. He blamed the law enforcers for working hand in glove with "rowdy elements" in Sandeshkhali where women have been protesting against alleged atrocities by the ruling TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his followers, Raj Bhavan sources told PTI. 

Bose said in the report that the local people want constitution of a Special Task Force or Special Investigation Team to probe into their allegations. "I have taken stock of the matter through direct interaction with the victims and by making extensive field visits in Sandeshkhali island. In my considered opinion, the situation there is highly reprehensible,” Bose said in the report to the Union Home Ministry. 

Besides torture and sexual harassment of women when men are away, other allegations heard by the governor include grabbing land for prawn cultivation and coercing villagers to withdraw complaints lodged by victims to the police, the sources told the news agency. 

"From the interaction with the victims, it is evident that the competent authorities of the locality have failed to instil confidence among the harassed and affected villagers. The precarious situation where people are in a confusion as to ‘who are the offenders and who are the protectors’ does not augur well for a democratic society,” the report read. 

The report named some of the followers of Shajahan Sheikh, who have allegedly been torturing the people of Sandeshkhali. "The ghastly, shocking and shattering assault on the modesty, dignity and honour of women in large numbers by a small gang who display symptoms of anti-social personality disorder does not bring credit to anyone down the line in a democratic regime," according to the report. 

Sandeshkhali hit the headlines after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials were attacked by a mob when they went to search the premises of TMC's Shajahan Sheikh on January 5. Sheikh has been absconding since then. The governor also said in the report that the police, instead of registering complaints against the miscreants, direct locals to make compromises with them while “goonda elements disguised as policemen trespass into the victims’ houses at night”. 

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(With inputs from PTI)