Suvendu Adhikari on Monday alleged that jailed former Trinamool Congress strongman, Sheikh Shahjahan, was the mastermind behind the attack on a prime witness in the assault case on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials at Sandeshkhali, and demanded that the CBI shift both Shahjahan and the case outside Bengal.
“Shahjahan is the mastermind behind this attack. He uses a smartphone inside the Basirhat prison because of the patronage of Mamata Banerjee. If Shahjahan remains in a Bengal prison, witnesses in important criminal cases like Bholanath Ghosh will continue to be targeted,” said the leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly.
On Wednesday morning, Bholanath Ghosh, one of the prime witnesses, was seriously injured when a truck collided with the car in which he was travelling with his son. His son and the driver of their car were killed on the spot. Soon after the accident, allegations surfaced that the
crash was pre-planned to kill Ghosh, as he was a witness in the case that implicated the incarcerated, suspended Trinamool leader in the attack on ED officials.
Since the “accident” took place within the jurisdiction of the Najat police station in North 24-Parganas, it became a political issue, with claims that the truck had deliberately chased the car to kill Ghosh.
On January 5 last year, a team of ED officials who went to raid Shahjahan’s residence in connection with a public distribution system “scam” was attacked by a group of people. The CBI took over the investigation and arrested several people. Shahjahan was arrested in February last year in connection with the attack and has since been lodged in the Basirhat prison.
“Jail officials have informed me that Shahjahan has been using a mobile
phone and remotely controlling the area and orchestrating acts of violence. This incident is his handiwork, carried out with the patronage of Mamata Banerjee,” the BJP leader said.
“I request the CBI to take the case outside the state and ensure that Shahjahan is kept in a jail beyond Bengal’s borders. Although it is delayed, the CBI has recently moved the Supreme Court seeking to shift 18 criminal cases related to the 2021 post-poll violence outside Bengal,” added the Nandigram MLA.
Adhikari said he had sent his team to meet Ghosh on Wednesday and discuss his security and treatment.
“Even government hospitals like SSKM are not safe for Ghosh, as he might be killed there, too. I want him to be treated in a private hospital,” the BJP leader said.
Junior Union minister and former state BJP president, Sukanta Majumdar, said what he observed was “cinematic”.
“We usually see such scenes only in movies, where a truck is used to kill witnesses. Now we are witnessing such scenes in real life in Bengal,” Majumdar said.
Multiple sources in Sandeshkhali said that Ghosh, who was once a business partner of Shahjahan, later became his rival over various issues. Even before Shahjahan’s arrest, there had been a rift between the two. There remains a distinct possibility that the accident was staged, and that the truck that chased and hit the car belonged to someone close to Shahjahan.
“The empty truck was initially stranded at a different location and was allegedly sent to kill Bholanath Ghosh, a resident of Sarberia, who is not only a witness in the ED attack case but also has knowledge of Shahjahan’s alleged wrongdoings,” said CPM state committee member Nirapada Sardar, a former Sandeshkhali MLA.
Trinamool leaders, however, said they had nothing to say on the issue as Shahjahan was suspended from the party. They also said it was incorrect to portray Ghosh as a key witness.
“Bholanath Ghosh was a close aide to Shahjahan, but he was not a key witness. We have nothing to say about the allegations against Shahjahan as he has been suspended and is no longer associated with our party,” said Trinamool’s Sandeshkhali MLA Sukumar Mahata.
