A key witness in the Sandeshkhali cases involving jailed Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan was injured on Wednesday after a truck collided with his car in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, reported PTI.
The younger son of the witness, Bholanath Ghosh, and the driver of the car were killed in the collision.
The case pertains to Enforcement Directorate officials being allegedly attacked while carrying out raids at Shahjahan’s home in January last year.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ghosh alleged that the crash was “not an accident”. His elder son, Biswajit, claimed that it was a “planned attempt to murder” his father.
He also accused Shahjahan of orchestrating the alleged crime, reported PTI.
The collision occurred at around 8.45 am on the Basanti Highway when Ghosh was travelling to the Basirhat sub-divisional court to appear in a case that Shahjahan had filed against him.
An unidentified police official said that a 16-wheel heavy truck struck the car, dragged it along the road and pushed it into a water body. The driver of the truck fled after the accident.
“I was sitting next to the driver, and my son was seated behind him,” the news agency quoted Ghosh as saying. “The truck came and hit our car at full speed on its right side.”
He was taken to a local hospital and then to a private facility in Kolkata. The bodies of his son, Satyajit, and driver, Sahanur Molla, have been sent for post-mortem examination.
Biswajit alleged that two local panchayat officials were also involved in the crash, The Indian Express reported.
“They had threatened to kill my father earlier,” he told the newspaper. “This is not an accident – 100% murder.”
Police said they were investigating the incident.
“We are not sure if it was an accident,” an unidentified police officer told The Indian Express. “We are probing every angle. We are putting more emphasis on why the collision occurred where there is no CCTV coverage and how the driver fled the spot.”
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the case should be transferred out of the state, alleging that “Shahjahan has orchestrated this accident”, PTI reported.
On January 5, 2024, Enforcement Directorate officials were allegedly attacked at Sandeshkhali village in the North 24 Parganas district when they were carrying out raids at Shahjahan’s house in connection with an alleged ration distribution scam.
A mob allegedly attacked the Enforcement Directorate officials with stones, bricks and batons.
Following this, several local women accused Sheikh and his associates, Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, of torturing and sexually harassing them for several years and also of grabbing their lands for prawn cultivation. Sheikh, Hazra and Sardar were arrested in February 2024.
Days later, the Trinamool Congress suspended Sheikh for six years amid mounting pressure on the party to take action against its leader.
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