Sandeshkhali Violence: TMC's Sheikh Shajahan Sent To 10-Day Police Custody | 10 Points

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shajahan Sheikh was sent on a 10-day police custody by the Basirhat Court of West Bengal on Thursday. His lawyer, Raja Bhowmick, said that the police had asked for 14 days, but the court granted only 10. Shajahan Sheikh was arrested by the West Bengal police on Thursday morning for his alleged role in attacking ED officers during a raid in January this year.  He was nabbed from a house in Minakhan, around 30 km away from the island of Sandeshkhali where he was hiding along with a few associates.

Here are the 10 top developments on the Sandeshkhali Case:

1. West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari leave for Sandeshkhali in a boat.
2. The riverine Sandeshkhali area -- situated on the borders of the Sundarbans, about 100 kilometres from Kolkata -- has been on the boil for more than a month with protests over allegations of sexual abuse and land grab against Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters. 
3. Locals in trouble-torn Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Thursday celebrated the arrest of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, accused of sexual abuse of women and land grab in the area, and distributed sweets.
4. The locals, who for the last few days have been protesting in the riverine Sandeshkhali area, came out in the streets as they distributed sweets and danced in joy as they celebrated the arrest of Shajahan, who has been absconding for the last 55 days.
5. The arrest of Shahjahan was hailed as an ‘eye-opener’ by West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, who said that it was just the ‘beginning’. “Bengal is witnessing the dawn of a new era today. The capture of the main culprit in the Sandeshkhali incidents is a wake-up call for everyone. This is only the start. We have to end the violence in Bengal,” Ananda Bose said.
6. The West Bengal governor also said that many parts of Bengal were under the grip of gangsters who were operating with impunity and defying the law.
7. Shahjahan had been dodging arrest by both the state and the central agencies for more than a month. Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition, claimed that the arrest was a ‘mutual adjustment’.
8. “This is not an arrest, this is a mutual adjustment. The people there will not get justice until the central agencies take him into their custody. He will enjoy five-star facilities in jail. He will use his mobile phone inside and control the area from there,” the LoP said while talking to reporters on his way to Sandeshkhali on Thursday.
9. Sandeshkhali, a region in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, had seen massive protests against TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a group of women demanded justice for the alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of “land-grab and sexual assault” by force.
10. The Left Front will hold a gathering at restive Sandeshkhali area in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Thursday.