On 5 January 2024, a group of
ED officers went to interrogate Sheikh Shahjahan, a
TMC district council member from Sarberia village of
Sandeshkhali I CD block in
North 24 Parganas district of
West Bengal in connection with the ration smuggling case in which senior minister in
Government of West Bengal,
Jyotipriya Mallick was arrested in October 2023. Immediately after the raid, the ED officers were assaulted and attacked by the local villagers, along with destroying their phones, important files by the local supporters of Sheikh Shahjahan. The vehicles of the mediapersons which were present there, were also vandalized and they were beaten badly. Following that incident, on 11 January 2024, ED officers filed a petition for the protection of them in
Calcutta High Court for which the protection was granted by the court. The court also ordered for an interim stay on the FIRs which were filed by police against ED officials on the day of the raid and violence. On 12 January 2024, two arrested in connection with the attack on the ED team by
West Bengal Police. On 25 January 2024, ED again with full force of
CISF went to Sandeshkhali to his residence for raid and they broke the doors and entered the house, but were able to find nothing. Following the attack incident, the local villagers alleged that Sheikh Shahjahan was like a gangster of Sandeshkhali, who used to threaten the people with his two aides, TMC leaders Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar and the mob. Allegations of systemic sexual assault on many women of Sandeshkhali surfaced in mainstream media during early February 2024. They also claimed that both Shibu and Uttam raped the women of the villages by calling them to their offices at ungodly hours and now police is denying to register FIRs. On 17 February 2024, Shibu Hazra was arrested by the police. He was sent to 8 days of police custody by the court. Soon after the news broke, several protests took place across the state by several opposition parties including the
Bharatiya Janata Party and the
Communist Party of India (Marxist). An inquiry was also launched on the allegations and several arrest were made. On 29 February 2024, at around 5:30 am (IST), Shahjahan was arrested by the police from
Minakhan, 30 km from
Sandeshkhali by them. == Reactions ==