West Bengal: ED files charge sheet against suspended TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said it has filed its first charge sheet against suspended West Bengal TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, his brother and two alleged accomplices as part of a money laundering case investigation.

The others named in the prosecution complaint are Sk Alomgir (Shajahan's brother) apart from Shib Prasad Hazra and Didar Boksh Molla.

The charge sheet has been filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kolkata. The CBI too had filed its charge sheet against Sheikh and some others this week.

Sheikh, the ED alleged in a statement, had "created a criminal empire revolving around land grabbing, illegal fish farming/trading, grabbing brick fields, cartelisation of contracts, collection of illegal taxes/levies, commission on land deals etc."

The suspended TMC leader, his brother and his two alleged aides were arrested by the ED in this case and they are currently lodged in jail under judicial custody. The agency may file supplementary charge sheets in this case, official sources said.

Sheikh was arrested by the ED on March 30 in connection with a case of mob assault on the agency's officials when they went to search his premises in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas on January 5 in relation to a money laundering case linked to alleged scam in PDS ration distribution in the state.

The latest money laundering investigation against Sheikh and his associates stems from multiple FIRs registered by the West Bengal Police against them on charges of giving threats, murder, attempt to murder, extortion, land grabbing etc.

The ED said it has recorded the statement of various persons in the case, including that of local farmers, tribals, fish merchants, agents, exporters, landowners and contractors, and has also seized three SUVs belonging to Sheikh and Alomgir.

The total "proceeds of crime" in this money laundering case are estimated at Rs 288.20 crore, according to the ED.