CBI unearths arms cache in Sandeshkhali, calls in NSG

Hours after the West Bengal Government approached the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe allegations of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault from Sandeshkhali against suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates, the CBI moved into the island and unearthed a cache of foreign-made arms, ammunition and unidentified explosives from the house of a close relative of a Sheikh Shahjahan aide.

This prompted the CBI to call in specialists from the elite National Security Guards (NSG).

The NSG commandos moved into Sandeshkhali in full gear, sniffer dogs and deployed a remote-controlled robot to defuse suspected explosives. The Election Commission also demanded a report from the Superintendent of Police of Sandeshkhali.

CBI officials said seven revolvers, including three foreign-made ones, and a .45 Colt revolver used by the police, were recovered along with 350 cartridges and an unspecified number of bombs and explosives. CBI said documents linked to Sheikh Shahjahan were also recovered during the raid. All the items had been buried inside the floor of the house, the CBI said.

The 10-member team of CBI – which is also investigating the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate team – was conducting a raid on hideouts linked to suspects in that case.

The Trinamool Congress brushed off allegations of being complicit with the stockpiling of arms and ammunition. “This is nothing but a drama on a day when the second phase of elections is taking place. The aim is to keep the Sandeshkhali issue alive to extract political mileage in the poll season,” said Kunal Ghosh, the party’s chief spokesperson.

At about 11 am, a 10-member CBI team raided a house in Sandeshkhali’s Sarberia area which belongs to Abu Taleb, the relative of a local Trinamool Congress leader, Hafizul Khan.

Hafizul is a close associate of Sheikh Shajahan. Shahjahan, who was earlier being investigated by the ED for money laundering in the ration and land scams that have rocked Bengal politics – was eventually arrested on February 29, 2004.

Sources said the CBI team, escorted by Central security forces, recovered arms and ammunition, as well as several bombs stored inside the house, prompting them to call in the National Security Guards. The arms and ammunition were dug out from the floor of the house of Abu Taleb, who is a three-wheeler driver.

The leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, slammed the Trinamool Congress Government over the raids and asked which security force would arrive next in Sandeshkhali. “ED, CBI, NIA, NSG. What next in Sandeshkhali? Army?” asked Adhikari.

He slammed the Chief Minister and said: “Mamata Banerjee has lost the moral authority to continue as the Chief Minister of West Bengal after fostering terrorists like Shahjahan Sheikh.”

The BJP’s IT cell head who is also the party’s co-minder in West Bengal said: “The CBI, during a raid in connection with the attack on ED officials, recovered a huge amount of arms and ammunition from Sariberia, in Sandeshkhali. Mamata Banerjee, as Home Minister of West Bengal, must explain why the State is seeing a huge stockpile of illegal weapons? It is dangerous. The NSG has been deployed but the WB Govt has approached the Supreme Court to preclude the CBI from investigating the matter. The arms haul is nothing but an act of terror, waging war against the nation. But the question is – why is Mamata Banerjee trying to protect terrorists who have stocked firearms in such large quantities?”

The raids come a day after the CBI – tasked with probing allegations of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault against suspended Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his associates – carried out raids on hideouts linked to those who attacked the Enforcement Directorate team on January 5.

That attack – believed to have been carried out by supporters of Shahjahan, on the run immediately after for nearly two months before his arrest – led to an avalanche of complaints against him, and triggered a ferocious political war between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Government and the Opposition, which included the I.N.D.I.A. bloc .