Prime witness in Sandeshkhali case injured; son, driver killed in road accident

Barasat: Bholanath Ghosh, one of the prime witnesses in the attack on ED officials in Sandeshkhali and connected CBI cases which implicated now-jailed TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, was injured when a truck collided with his car in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Wednesday, a senior officer said.

Ghosh's younger son, Satyajit (32), and the driver of his car, Sahanur Molla (27), were killed in the accident that took place on the Basanti Highway near the Boyramari petrol pump under the Nazat Police Station limits in Basirhat, he said.

The 16-wheel truck dragged the private vehicle and dumped it into a water body adjacent to the road, the officer said.

While the truck was found on the side of the highway, precariously dangling over the water body, the erring driver fled the spot.

Basirhat Superintendent of Police Hossain Mehedi Rahaman confirmed that injured Ghosh was first taken to a local hospital and later shifted to a private health facility in Kolkata.

Ghosh was subsequently released from the hospital after he was administered primary treatment.

“I was sitting next to the driver, and my son was seated behind him. The truck came and hit our car at full speed on its right side. I cannot say anything more except this wasn’t an accident. I will know more once I return home and speak to the police,” the survivor told reporters.

The bodies of the deceased were sent to the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata for post-mortem examinations, he added.

Ghosh, accompanied by his son, had left his Sandeshkhali residence and was headed for the Basirhat sub-divisional court to appear in connection with one of the many cases that Shahjahan had filed against him. The accident took place around 8.45 am on a stretch of the road which had no CCTV cover.

“We were on our way to the court to appear in a false case of rape, which Shahjahan had filed against us. I think we were being followed from the moment we left our home,” he said.

Local eyewitnesses claimed that the truck, moving in the opposite direction of the car, jumped lane and rammed into the private vehicle at breakneck speed, crushed it and dragged it along until it fell into the adjacent water body.

Ghosh's elder son, Biswajit, claimed that this was a planned attempt to murder his father, and alleged that Shahjahan pulled strings sitting in jail to carry out the crime.

“Our family has been subjected to sustained threats and harassment by Shahjahan and his followers ever since my father began cooperating with the CBI. Two of Shahjahan’s close aides, Trinamool Nazat panchayat samiti chief Sabita Roy and her deputy, Moslem Sheikh, orchestrated this attack upon instructions of their boss,” Biswajit alleged.

Both Roy and Sheikh denied the charges, calling them “baseless”.

“This accident is most unfortunate. I have known the family for long and have remained in touch with them ever since I came to know of it. I welcome a fair probe into the accident and let the truth be revealed,” Roy said.

“The allegation is ridiculous. I know this family very well and we work for the same party. It seems a political conspiracy is being hatched against me by provoking them to make such wild accusations. I am 66 years old and I have never practised violence in politics,” Moslem maintained.

Till reports last received, official police complaints by the victims' family members were yet to be lodged.

Shahjahan was arrested by the West Bengal Police on February 29, 2024 after remaining a fugitive for 55 days following the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials by his supporters when the agency reached his doorstep on January 5 to question the TMC leader regarding the under-probe multi-crore ration scam.

Large-scale allegations of forceful land acquisition and sexual assault on local women against Shahjahan and his followers in Sandeshkhali soon began to surface, leading to a major political dust-up ahead of the general elections that year.