"Our govt follows 'Rajdharma'": TMC's Santanu Sen on Shahjahan's arrest

"His arrest proves that our government follows 'Rajdharma' in an administrative manner. We had taken action against Partha Chatterjee and Jyotipriya Mallick, and similarly, we have taken action against Shibu Hazra and Uttam Sardar, and now Sheikh Shahjahan has been arrested," Santanu Sen said on Thursday.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Sen said that the party should learn 'Rajdharma' from TMC.

"Abhishek Banerjee had said that the police were unable to arrest him due to the court's stay order. He has been arrested within 3-4 days of the removal of the stay order," he said.

"On one side, accused leaders openly move in BJP-ruled states, and on the other side, our administration doesn't spare accused TMC leaders if there is evidence against them. BJP should learn 'Rajdharma' from the TMC," Sen said.

Welcoming the arrest, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, "Sheikh Shahjahan has been arrested, we welcome the steps of the state police. Our leader, Abhishek Banerjee, pointed out earlier that due to some parts of the order from the High Court, state police have been restrained from taking any action."

"After Abhishek Banerjee pointed out the problem, the High Court removed the restrictions, and the police became free. We had full trust and full faith in the Police, we said that within a few days, you would see the result and today Shahjahan has been arrested," he added.

State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar claimed that the government was 'compelled' to arrest Shahjahan due to continuous agitation by the BJP.

"Due to the continuous agitation by the BJP, this government was compelled to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan. The government was in denial mode. They were not even accepting that anything as such had happened," Majumdar said.

"I had already said that we would compel the government to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan. Today, due to the agitation of the BJP and the women of Sandeshkhali, the government and Mamata Banerjee are compelled to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan," he added.

BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh said, "State Police has no other option left than to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, as the court already gave the verdict that CBI and ED can arrest Sheikh Shahjahan for the interest of the public."

He alleged that the state police arrested Shahjahan to keep him in their 'safe custody'.

"To keep Sheikh Shahjahan in their safe custody, the state police already arrested him and we hope that the truth about Sandeshkhali will come out through different kinds of agencies as well as court intervention. The party of the scoundrels and criminals - the TMC - will face the consequences," Shankar Ghosh said.

Meanwhile, West Bengal's Basirhat Court remanded TMC Sheikh Shahjahan to 10-day police custody on Thursday.

Shahjahan was arrested by West Bengal police on Thursday morning in connection with an alleged assault on ED officers during a raid in January earlier this year

Shahjahan's arrest comes three days after the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice ordered adding the name of Sheikh Shahjahan to the Sandeshkhali case.

He had been evading arrest by both state and central agencies for over a month.

Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district has been witnessing widespread protests against TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh this month as a section of women were seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by the TMC leader.

A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Shajahan Sheikh and his close aides of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion. (ANI)