Within hours of the Supreme Court rejecting Mamata Banerjee government’s objection to a CBI investigation into the attack on an ED team in Sandeshkhali, the central probe agency on Monday summoned nine persons, including some close aides and acquaintances of suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, to appear before it.
A team of ED officials had come under a mob attack on January 5 when they went to the island to search properties linked to Shahjahan. All the accused were asked to appear at Nizam Palace, CBI office in Kolkata.
Shahjahan was arrested by the West Bengal police on February 29 and was produced in court on Sunday, after his 10-day police custody ended. The Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court sent him to four-day CBI custody in connection with the January 5 attack.
Apart from the attack on an ED team, which was out raiding his Sandeshkhali residence in connection with the alleged ration scam, Shahjahan is also accused of land grabbing, extortion and committing excesses on women along with his henchmen.
The women of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district erupted in violent protests and came out on the streets, accusing Shahjahan and his aides of grave excesses and atrocities.