Sandeshkhali TMC leader Ajit Maity arrested days after protesters ransack his house

Ajay Maity is the third TMC leader arrested in Sandeshkhali, which has been witnessing public anger against the ruling party over alleged land grabbing and sexual assaults.

Protest for arrest in Sandeshkhali incident

Women holding posters stage a protest demanding the arrest of local TMC leaders over Sandeshkhali incident allegations, in North 24 Parganas district, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024. (PTI Photo)

The West Bengal Police on Monday morning arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ajit Maity from Sandeshkhali, three days after protesting local residents ransacked his house.

Maity is the third TMC leader arrested in connection with the alleged atrocities by leaders of the ruling party against Sandeshkhali villagers in the North 24 Parganas district. The other two — Uttam Sardar and Shibaprasad Hazra — were arrested on February 10 and 27, respectively.

On Friday, the protesters in the Bermojur village attacked Maity’s house, and he fled away. On Sunday, when villagers saw Maity, they chased him. He fled and took shelter in a nearby civic volunteer’s house. Later, the police detained him from there. The police, after preliminary interrogation, recorded his arrest on Monday morning.

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Maity is known as a close aide of TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh and his brother Sirajuddin Sheikh. Villagers alleged that Maity grabbed their land and drained saline water into it to make them fisheries.

On Sunday, TMC minister Partha Bhowmik disowned Maity and said, “He is no more our party leader. We have already suspended him. If he has done wrong, naturally, people would be angry at him.”

Sandeshkhali has been at the centre of a row after Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers raiding the home of local strongman Shahjahan Sheikh were assaulted in the area on January 5. The ED had gone there concerning an investigation into alleged irregularities in West Bengal’s Public Distribution System (PDS). Later, several women in Sandeshkhali accused Sheikh, who has been absconding, and his supporters of sexual assault and land grabbing.

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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