Sandeshkhali: ISF MLA Arrested, Adhir Breathes Fire At TMC After Cong Delegation Stopped — Updates

The BJP attacked CM Mamata Banerjee over the Sandeshkhali issue, alleging that she has given "protection" to TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, the key accused in the case, due to her "appeasement politics".

ISF party MLA Naushad Siddiqui comes out of the Lalbazar police headquarters after his release, in Kolkata. Naushad was detained by the police while he was enroute to Sandeshkhali.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Opposition parties in West Bengal, including BJP and Congress, came down heavily on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its supremo Mamata Banerjee over the situation in violence-stricken Sandeshkhali where several women have reported instances of sexual assault, while others have raised concerns about land-grabbing incidents.

The BJP attacked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Sandeshkhali issue, alleging that she has given "protection" to TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh, the key accused in the case, due to her "appeasement politics".

Meanwhile, state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused TMC of running an autocratic regime where any dissenter is being framed in false cases.

Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district has been witnessing protests for the past few weeks over allegations of land grab and sexual atrocities on women by Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters.

Here Are The Latest Updates-

• Speaking to reporters, Chowdhury said, "An authoritarian regime is prevailing under the rule of TMC where any dissenter is implicated in cases, even journalists are not safe. Reporters are being arrested and editors have cases filed against them. Certain TMC leaders are describing women as actors for speaking out the truth."
  
  
• He was commenting on a video clip that purportedly showed TMC MLA Saokat Molla alleging that the protesting women at Sandeshkhali were outsiders who were acting before the camera at the behest of opposition parties.
  
  
• Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Prem Shukla told reporters that appeasement matters more than justice for the state's ruling Trinamool Congress. Shukla cited TMC leader Kunal Ghosh's statement that Sheikh will be arrested within a week to assert that it is now clear that the TMC knows his whereabouts.
  
  
• "It clearly means that Mamata Banerjee has given protection to a rapist," he said, targeting the opposition INDIA bloc for its silence on the issue.
  
  
• Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai wrote a letter to West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday, condemning the situation in violence-stricken Sandeshkhali. Sai, who comes from a tribal background, urged Banerjee to take stringent action against the culprits.
  
  
• Police earlier today arrested Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA Nausad Siddique and prevented senior state Congress leaders from heading towards the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali. 
  
  
• Siddique expressed surprise over his arrest and affirmed his intention to meet villagers in Sandeshkhali. "I don't know why they arrested me. This is several kilometres away from Sandeshkhali. I was going there to meet the villagers. I did not break any rules. Why was I stopped here when prohibitory orders are imposed in Sandeshkhali," Siddique told reporters.
  
  
• Similarly, a delegation from the West Bengal Congress, led by spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy, was prevented from visiting the region and was detained at Dhamakhali before being escorted to Nazat police station.
  
  
• Trinamool Congress leaders, however, said the party-led government in West Bengal is taking action on allegations of sexual atrocities and land grabs in Sandeshkhali.
  
  
• Addressing a press conference in the national capital, TMC leaders accused BJP of politicising the Sandeshkhali issue and said the state is taking action and key accused Shajahan Sheikh will be arrested soon.