The West Bengal government on Saturday transferred Biswajit Shanpui, the officer-in-charge of Sandeshkhali police station, reported PTI.
Gopal Sarkar, who has previously served as the officer-in-charge of the larger Basirhat police district, which includes Sandeshkhali police station, will replace Shanpui, who has been transferred to the Basirhat police station.
The transfer has been described by the police authorities as routine administrative actions.
The Sandeshkali village in the state’s North 24 Parganas district has been at the centre of a political row for over a month. The village has witnessed unprecedented protests by women regarding several allegations of sexual assault and land grabbing against now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh.
On March 1, two police officers from the Basirhat police district had been transferred soon after Sheikh was arrested.
On Sunday, the Central Bureau of Investigation’s custody of Sheikh was extended till March 14, reported India Today.
Sheikh had been absconding since January 5, when officials of the Enforcement Directorate were assaulted in Sandeshkhali as they carried out raids in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam. A mob allegedly attacked the Enforcement Directorate officials with stones, bricks and batons when they arrived to raid the Trinamool leader’s home.
Following this, several local women accused Sheikh and his associates of torturing and sexually harassing them over several years, and also of grabbing their lands for prawn cultivation.
The West Bengal Police on Wednesday handed over the custody of Sheikh to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
This was on the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the Nari Shakti Vandan Concluding Karyakram rally at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, said, that the Trinamool Congress had unleashed “a reign of terror” on women in West Bengal.
“Ripples of the Sandeshkhali matter will be felt across the state,” Modi also said.
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