Sheikh Shahjahan sent to 10-day police custody

Kolkata, Feb 29 (IANS) Sheikh Shahjahan, the accused mastermind behind the January 5 attack on ED and CAPF personnel in Sandeshkhali has been remanded to 10 days of police custody by a district court on Thursday.

He was arrested late Wednesday night from the Bamanpukur area under the Minakhan police station and on Thursday morning was presented at the Basirhat Sub-Divisional Court in North 24 Parganas district exactly 55 days after the attack.

He appeared at the court with an expressionless face and cold glances. He was attired in milk-white pathani suit, light-grey half-sleeve jacket and costly white sneakers.

However, he did not utter a single word to the questions from the waiting mediapersons present there.

Meanwhile, the entire area under the two blocks of Sandeshkhali-I and Sandeshkhali-II were wrapped under blanket security cover since Thursday morning since the time the arrest surfaced. A huge police contingent accompanied by the personnel of the rapid action force and combat force of the state police have been deployed there.

The police personnel were seen doing constant patrolling activities and requesting the local people to maintain peace.

Before being brought to the court, the entire court premises was also kept under blanket security cover with a huge police contingent being deployed there. The security blocked all the entry and exit points to the court premises by erecting barricades.

After Shahjahan was presented at the court there was a hearing for just 10 minutes. The police demanded custody for 14 days. However, the judge granted 10 days of police custody.

It is learnt that besides other cases Shahjahan has also been named in the case of attack on ED and CAPF personnel. Generally, at Basirhat Sub-divisional court the criminal cases are heard from 2 p.m. but considering the gravity of the matter and its probable fallout on the law & order situation the matter was treated as a “special case” and was heard early on Thursday morning.