A petition has been filed at the Calcutta High Court demanding the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Sandeshkhali following recent outbreaks of violence. The petition seeks urgent intervention to address the escalating tensions and ensure the protection of residents in this sensitive situation.
Kolkata: A petition was submitted to a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on February 16th, demanding the deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in Sandeshkhali, West Bengal. The area has experienced heightened tension since last week, sparked by protests from local women alleging sexual harassment by close associates of absconding Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan.
The division bench, comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Gaurang Kanth, has accepted the petition filed by Sangjukta Samnta, who is also a counsel at the Calcutta High Court. The case is scheduled for a hearing on February 19.
Sandeshkhali, situated within the Basirhat police district, emerged as a focal point of unrest as a group of villagers, predominantly women, took to the streets to voice their grievances. Their demands were straightforward: the apprehension of Trinamool Congress leaders Shahjahan Sheikh, Shibu Hazra, and Uttam Sardar, who stand accused of various offenses. Despite Uttam Sardar’s arrest, Sheikh and Hazra remain fugitives, intensifying the villagers’ discontent. The protests witnessed the use of conventional weapons and the deliberate destruction of properties, including a poultry farm and a garden house, purportedly established on land seized by force.
Sheikh Shahjahan, the alleged mastermind behind the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel in Sandeshkhali, has been evading authorities since the incident. In response, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave a clean chit to Shahjahan during a virtual address on Thursday, placing blame on ED officials for attempting to provoke tension in the region.
The demand for CAPF deployment in Sandeshkhali was initially raised by the BJP’s state unit in West Bengal as tensions escalated in the area. The BJP asserted that without CAPF presence, the safety of protesting women couldn’t be guaranteed, alleging that the district police were providing protection to the accused individuals identified by the women for sexual harassment.
Furthermore, the state BJP unit accused certain local police personnel of intimidating women protesters who had bravely shared their accounts of harassment both on camera and during a visit by Governor C.V. Ananda Bose to Sandeshkhali earlier in the week.
