The Prime Minister’s event is expected to be attended by some women from Sandeshkhali, which has made national headlines over allegations of sexual harassment, land grab and extortion against local Trinamool leaders led by Shahjahan. The BJP plans to get women from the island to the Prime Minister’s event as it slams the Trinamool government over women’s safety issues.
The Prime Minister’s visit to Bengal comes amid a face-off between the CBI and the state police over the custody of Shahjahan. Arrested after being on the run for 52 days, he has been expelled by the Mamata Banerjee-led party. He is currently with Bengal police, but the BJP has alleged that people of the island will not get any justice till he is grilled by the central agency.
The Calcutta High Court yesterday directed Bengal police to hand over Shahjahan’s custody to CBI, noting that “it has become imperative and absolutely necessary for doing complete justice and enforcing the fundamental rights of the public in general and the public of the locality that the cases be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation”.
Soon after, the Trinamool government approached the Supreme Court to challenge the high court order and sought an urgent hearing. The request for an urgent hearing was turned down, and the Bengal government was asked to mention its plea before the Registrar-General for a date, as per rules. The state government has told the Supreme Court that they were given sufficient time to seek legal remedy against the high court order.
Bengal police, meanwhile, refused to hand over the strongman to a CBI team that had reached its office to take custody. The state police maintained that the matter is before the Supreme Court and the handover must take place only after a court ruling.