CID officials will lose their lives if they question Shahjahan Sheikh: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

"The Trinamool has enslaved the CID. How can the CID question Shahjahan? Does a master answer the slave? Shahjahan is their master. If they question him they will lose their lives. Do they want to risk their jobs?" Chowdhury said speaking at a press conference in West Bengal's Murshidabad on Friday.

Hitting out at the ruling Trinamool Congress government in the state, the senior Congress leader said that Shahjahan has been arrested so that he can take rest for a few days till the election.

"They (CID) will treat him with mutton, pulao, biriyani. Has he gone there to answer them? He has gone there to rest. Didi (Mamata Banerjee) has asked him to take rest. When elections come, he can get back to action," Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury even claimed that Shahjahan will be operating from beyond bars for some time and he will control the coercive electoral strategies from there.

"He can operate everything from jail now whether it is Sandeshkhali, Diamond Harbour, places from where Khoka babu (Abhishek Banerjee) will contest the election. The jail will now turn into his operating center. It will be his election command office," Chowdhury said.

Advocating for rapid deployment of central armed forces in the state to keep the Trinamool Congress hooligans in check, Chowdhury said that he will be visiting the Election Commission on March 4 to keep his request.

"The force should come here fast. They will put the hooligans of Trinamool in check. I am not speaking against all the workers of Trinamool but those who have turned the party into an oppresive one. We have demanded for central armed forces to assist people in this fight against them. I have gone to the Election Commission in this regard and I will go again on March 4," the senior Congress leader said.

Chowdhury also warned that the ruling Trinamool Congress will try to influence the central armed forces' personnels by all means.

"They have no dearth of money. They will try to influence Trinamool members who are in the forces. This is because they still have control of the police," he said.

Speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visits to West Bengal in this week, Chowdhury said, "Prime Minister is coming on election tourism. His list of campaigns here will increase day by day. With changing time he will change his speech, promises...he has a number of qualities."

The West Bengal Congress chief also warned of resurfacing of talks about Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Lok Sabha elections to flare up communal tensions in the state in order to reap political benefits.

"There will be rise of communal forces in Bengal again. Talks of CAA, NRC will come up again. After the Bengal Assembly polls these talks were in slumber. Now since winter has gone, these talks will again come up in the market," Chowdhury said. (ANI)