The anticipatory bail prayer of Shahjahan Sheikh, the Trinamul Congress leader from Sandeshkhali who has been missing since January 5, was rejected by a court on Friday.
Opposing the prayer, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted in the CBI Special Court on Friday that the leader held a political portfolio and was influential enough to “gather 3,000 people in 15 minutes”.
The lawyer was referring to the attack by villagers on an ED team that had gone to raid Shahjahan’s house in Sandeshkhali on January 5.
Shahjahan is a karmadhyaksha of the North 24-Parganas zilla parishad.
“He is the blue-eyed boy and the talk of the town. He can gather 3,000 people in 15 minutes. If bail is granted to this person, it would only hamper the investigation,” the ED’s lawyer said.
The lawyer said Shahjahan had been an accused in several criminal cases in the past.
“He has been accused of ransacking houses, arson, murder and damage to public property. My client has collected evidence against him for the case for which he was summoned. If needed, they can present it. If nothing else, he (Shahjahan) should comply with the summons at least,” the ED’s lawyer submitted in the court.
The lawyer for Shahjahan said his client had no idea that the people would react the way they did on the day the ED team went to raid his house.
“My client was not aware of how the villagers were going to react that day when the ED team went to his house,” defence lawyer Sabyasachi Banerjee said.
Shahjahan, he said, is “ready to cooperate with the investigation if he gets protection”.
After hearing both sides, the court ordered: “During investigations, some credible information has been collected, which shows the involvement of the present accused. During investigations, ED had called him and he was present there (at Sandeshkhali), and later got engaged in another call. And after a large number of villagers were assembled... ED officers were attacked. He was asked to appear but he did not appear. The mere filing of an anticipatory bail petition in a case of such magnitude does not convince the judicial consciousness of the court. In the present (case), accused did not cooperate with the agency and also failed to follow the rule of law.... He has old criminal records.”
The ED had summoned Shahjahan in connection with the alleged irregularities in the ration distribution system in Bengal. He skipped the summons and filed an anticipatory bail petition in the court earlier this month.