From 'secular protection' to 'legal protection' now: BJP slams TMC over Shajahan Sheikh's arrest after 55 days

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday dubbed the arrest of Shajahan Sheikh as a 'legal protection' given to him and slammed the West Bengal police for not charging him with the crime of sexual assault and land grab levelled against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman by many women in Sandeshkhali.

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said at a press conference that Sheikh has been arrested in the case involving violent attack on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials by a mob affiliated to him.

He asked as to why the West Bengal police has in such a case not handed over his custody to the central agency.

He said the video of Sheikh striding ahead with the cops following him looked more like a case of him being escorted instead of being under arrest.

Clearly, he has moved from the 'protection' given to him by the government headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to become a 'guest' of the police, he alleged.

The TMC leader was under 'secular protection' all these days when he was supposedly on the run while he is now under legal protection, Trivedi said.

He claimed that the accused was seen showing a victory sign and said the Mamata Banerjee government symbolises the 'Mughal mindset' which saw triumph in atrocities against women.

Trivedi also accused Karnataka Congress leader B K Hariprasad of suggesting that Pakistan may be an enemy country for the BJP but not for his party.

The opposition's I.N.D.I.A bloc is full of parties which sympathise with terrorists, criminals and Pakistan, he alleged, and asked why there is so much of 'mohabbat' (for Pakistan) in Rahul Gandhi's 'mohabbat ki dukan'.

He noted that Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Salman Khurshid have in the past made comments sympathetic to the neighbouring country. In this context, he also hit out at the DMK for using what looked like the Chinese flag on an Indian missile in an advertisement.

These parties have repeatedly shown contempt for India and the people will punish them, Trivedi said.

Asked about the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs by the Himachal Pradesh Speaker, he said it shows the party's government is on a shaky ground in the state.

BJP's co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that Sheikh was arrested by the state police to 'preclude' ED and CBI from getting him.

Taking to X, Malviya, who is also the BJP's IT Cell head, said: 'Is this an arrest? WB Police is escorting Sheikh Shahjahan like they would escort CM Mamata Banerjee. All these days, Sheikh Shahjahan was under the protection of WB Police.'

'As soon as Calcutta High Court allowed ED and CBI to arrest Sheikh Shahjahan, Mamata Banerjee's police took control of him. They hurriedly took him to a local Court, to preclude ED and CBI lawyers from getting in. No wonder women of #Sandeshkhali have no faith in Mamata Banerjee,' he added.

The police said Sheikh was arrested in two cases lodged at the Nazat police station in connection with an assault on Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on January 5 during a raid at his house in a ration scam case.

He was booked under IPC sections 147 (guilty of rioting), 148 (guilty of rioting being armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 333 (whoever voluntarily causes grievous hurt to any person being a public servant) and 392 (robbery), they said.