Sandeshkhali: CBI slaps attempt to murder charges against Shahjahan Sheikh

NEW DELHI: The CBI has charged suspended TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, his brother and five others with criminal conspiracy and attempt to murder in connection with a mob attack on an Enforcement Directorate team in Sandeshkhali on January 5, officials said on Tuesday.

The agency's first charge sheet in the case was filed on Monday before a Basirhat special court, they said.

The ED team came under attack from a 1,000-strong mob when it went to raid Sheikh's house in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution scam in West Bengal. It had also gone to arrest Sheikh because of his alleged close links with arrested former state food minister Jyoti Priya Mallick, under the scanner in the scam, they said.

The charge sheet is against seven people, including Sheikh, his brother Alomgir and associates Jiauddin Mollah, Mafujar Mollah, and Didarbaksh Mollah, they said.

The CBI has invoked Indian Penal Code Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 307 (attempt to murder) on the accused besides rioting and unlawful assembly among a number of other charges, they said.

Sandeshkhali, a riverine island around 80 km from Kolkata, has been in the news after local women alleged land-grabbing and sexual abuse by Sheikh and his men, who are involved in fish farming and trading.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over investigation in three cases related to incidents on January 5.

"Investigation revealed that Shahjahan Sheikh was the key conspirator behind the incident in which ED officials were attacked when they went to conduct a search at his residential and official premises in a case on allegations of money laundering related to proceeds of crime generated from irregularities in procurement and distribution of ration through PDS scheme," a CBI spokesperson said.

Sheikh was arrested by the state police on February 29 and the CBI took him under its custody on March 6.