A court in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Thursday extended the CBI custody of Sandeshkhali strongman Shajahan Sheikh by eight days.

Sheikh was arrested on February 29 after 55 days on the run following violent protests led by women, alleging sexual atrocities and land grab. He went missing after a mob attacked an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team that went to search his house in the alleged ration scam on January 5.

The state CID took over the investigation into the allegations against him.

He was later handed to the CBI on an order of the Calcutta High Court.

On March 10, the court sent him to CBI custody for four days.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.