A key witness against Sheikh Shajahan, a Trinamool strongman, in North 24-Parganas’ Sandeshkhali, was injured in a road accident on the Basanti Expressway.

The witness Bhola Ghosh, his son and the driver of the vehicle were travelling when a truck rammed into their car near a petrol pump, killing Bhola’s son and driver.

Ghosh has been taken to the Minakhan rural hospital in a critical condition.

According to police sources, Bhola and his son were on the way to Malancha near Basirhat in North 24-Parganas.

“We are not yet certain if this is an accident. A probe is on. We are looking for the absconding truck driver,” said a police officer in Minakha.

Known as the terror of Sandeshkhali, Shahjahan was arrested by the CBI in connection with an attack on a team of Enforcement Directorate officials who went to question him at his residence in Sandeshkhali in January 2024.

The attack on the ED team brought into focus Sandeshkhali, a remote corner in the Sundarbans in North 24-Parganas, where Shahjahan called the shots.

Such was his hold in the area that an entire market in Sarberia was named after him.

A day before Ghosh’s mysterious accident a family in Sandeshkhali’s Sarberia had alleged that Shajahan and his henchmen were issuing threats.

The family had claimed ownership of the land on which Shahjahan had built his market and even moved court. The family alleged on Tuesday they were threatened by the aides of Shahjahan who were roaming in the area.

A complaint was lodged at the Najat police station.

Shahjahan’s name had first cropped up in connection with the multi-crore food distribution scam for which former state minister Jyotipriya Mullick was arrested. The ED team was attacked when it went to Sandeshkhali to question Shahjahan.

Since his arrest, several villagers had come forward and complained about Shahjahan and his men forcing them to convert their paddy fields into fisheries.

The incidents at Sandeshkhali came up during the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with even PM Narendra Modi, calling the episode shameful.

Apart from his alleged role in the assault on the ED team, Shahjahan is accused of land encroachment, extortion, coercion and mistreatment of women.