TMC Chief Arrested, Suspended From Party For Six Years, According To Derek O’Brien

Sandeshkhali Violence: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’Brien said on Thursday that Shahjahan Sheikh, the party’s leader, has been suspended from the organization for a period of six years after his arrest earlier today. Derek O’Brien informed reporters in Kolkata, “TMC has decided to suspend Sheikh from the party for six years.”

The TMC strongman was apprehended early on Thursday morning, having been evading capture for fifty-five days. In the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, there were violent demonstrations organized by women in the war-torn Sandeshkhali region. Sheikh was a member of the TMC-held North 24 Parganas Zilla Parishad in addition to serving as the party convenor for the Sandeshkhali assembly seat.

“It is our decision to ban Shajahan Sheikh from the party for a period of six years. We always practice what we preach. “But we dare the BJP to suspend leaders, who have corruption cases against them and have several criminal cases against them,” O’Brien said at a news conference. “We have set examples in the past, and we are doing that today.”

The Calcutta High Court said on Thursday that it “no longer has sympathy” for Shajahan Sheikh. PTI reports that the court has ordered his attorney to appear before it on March 4, the day a suo motu petition regarding alleged sexual atrocities and the appropriation of tribal land at Sandeshkhali will be considered, will be heard.

When Sheikh’s attorney showed up in court, he tried to make a last-minute argument on his client. He was invited to appear before a division bench chaired by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam on Monday, when a suo motu petition concerning alleged sexual atrocities and the appropriation of tribal land in Sandeshkhali is set to be heard. The court ruled that Sheikh’s location were known if he had handed the counsel his vakalatnama.