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West Bengal's Sandeshkhali police arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Ajit Maity on Monday in the troubled region.
According to the police, Maity was detained yesterday and arrested this morning. He is a TMC MLA from Paschim Medinipur's Pingla Assembly constituency. "I'm repeatedly requesting with folded hands that if I have taken away someone's land or money, then give it in writing to the police. If I have made a mistake, I will apologise. If any evidence is found against me, I will take responsibility," Maity said. Maity, earlier on Friday, was chased by angry villagers as they broke through fences and physically assaulted him in the presence of media crew. Visuals from the site showed villagers ransacking Maity's house and beating him with slippers. Earlier on Sunday, six members of an independent fact-finding committee, on their way to Sandeshkhali, were arrested at Bhojerhat in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district. The team was headed by Justice Narsimha Reddy, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, with members Charu Bali Khanna, Bhavna Bajaj, OP Vyas, Rajpal Singh, Aparna Banerjee and Bandana Biswas. Saikat Ghosh, Deputy Commissioner, Bhangar Division, Kolkata Police, said while speaking to the media, "We were requesting them not to cross from here, but they were trying to break the police barricade unlawfully. So, we had to arrest them under preventive sections." Sandeshkhali has been on the boil for a few days as a section of women are seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexual assault" under coercion. Shahjahan continues to evade arrest, with both state police and central agencies unable to trace him. Following the incident, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team visited Sandeshkhali to ascertain facts through a "spot-inquiry" into the incidents of violence in the North 24 Parganas islands and meet the victims. The Commission has observed that the recent incidents in Sandeshkhali, as have been reported in various print and electronic media, indicate a prima facie violation of human rights, shocking the conscience. (ANI)
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