CBI arrests close aide of Sheikh Shahjahan, 9 others in 2019 Bengal post-poll violence case

Kolkata, May 27 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that 10 people, accused in post-poll violence cases in West Bengal following the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, have been arrested.

The ten arrested accused individuals include Kader Molla, the most trusted aide of Sheikh Shahjahan, the notorious and now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader from Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district. Shahjahan is currently in jail after the CBI identified him as the mastermind behind the attack on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials in front of his residence in Sandeshkhali on January 5, 2024.

CBI insiders said the arrest of the 10 accused individuals is in connection with the murder of three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists, namely Debdas Mondal, Pradip Mondal and Sukanta Mandal at Nazat in Sandeshkhali area on June 8, 2019.

Clashes broke out between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP workers over the hoisting of the party flag, and in those clashes, these victims were allegedly hacked by Molla and his close associates at the insistence of Shahjahan.

The initial investigation into the matter was started by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police during the previous Trinamool Congress regime. However, while the CID submitted its chargesheet in the matter, the names of the 28 accused persons, including that of Shahjahan, were omitted.

Thereafter, the victim’s family members approached the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI probe into the matter. In their petition, the victim’s family members also accused the CID of the state police of deliberately omitting the name of Shahjahan and his close associates from the chargesheet.

Finding merits in the arguments of the counsels of the victims’ family members, the Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe.

Kader Molla and the nine others arrested by the CBI have been absconding since then. Finally, in a major breakthrough in the case, 10 accused persons, including Molla, have been arrested by the central agency.

–IANS

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