Sandeshkhali Case: Bengal CID Refuses To Hand Over Shahjahan To CBI, Says Matter Before Supreme Court

The West Bengal Police’s CID on Tuesday refused to hand over TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh, the main accused in the Sandeshkhali case, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), despite the Calcutta High Court’s order transferring the investigation to the central agency.

The court had directed the police to transfer custody of Shahjahan, as well as case materials, by 4.30 pm to CBI. At 7.30 pm a CBI team left the police HQ in Kolkata empty-handed.

As per the ground report, the Central agency officers had to wait for over 2 hours at the CID office for the transfer of documents, however, the West Bengal government denied the request.

The state police refused to hand over the case filed stating that the matter is pending in the Supreme Court.

Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of investigation into an attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali on January 5 from the West Bengal Police to the CBI.

The court also directed that the custody of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, who was arrested by the West Bengal police on February 29 in connection with the attack, be handed over to the central agency.

Hours after the high court’s order, the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee moved the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order transferring the probe to the CBI.