Suspended TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan has moved the Calcutta High Court for bail in the case involving an alleged attack on Enforcement Directorate officers when they had gone to raid his residence on January 5 last year. The case is being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The bail petition has been filed to a division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and the matter is likely to be heard this week.

Sandeshkhali, a riverine island around 80 km from Kolkata, was in the news after local women alleged land-grabbing and sexual abuse by Sheikh, who was the TMC Sandeskhali president, and his men, who are involved in fish farming and trading. The region was in tension for weeks until the West Bengal Police arrested Shahjahan in the attack case on February 29.

The ED officials were in Sandeshkhali on January 5 to search Sheikh’s residential and official premises in connection with allegations of money laundering related to proceeds of crime generated from irregularities in procurement, processing/milling/fortification and distribution of ration through the PDS scheme.

The CBI had gotten custody of Shahjahan on March 6, 2024, a day after a division bench of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, T S Sivagnanam, had ordered that the case involving the attack on ED officials and the custody of the accused be granted to the CBI.

In May 2024, the CBI filed a chargesheet against seven arrested accused, including Shahjahan, in connection with the attack.