The opposition BJP claimed the state police were forced to arrest Sheikh because of its agitations.”It was the TMC and the state police which were shielding the culprit. He has been arrested now as a part of a well-scripted story. The state administration was forced to arrest him because of the continuous agitation led by us,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumadar said.Sheikh was traced with the help of his mobile phone’s tower location, a police officer said.”Shiekh was changing his location from time to time. He was spotted with the help of his mobile phone’s tower location,” he said.Huge police deployment was made at the Basirhat court, around 65 km from Kolkata, to maintain the law and order situation, police said.Additional forces were also deployed in parts of Sandeshkhali, which Sheikh is accused of turning into his fiefdom over the last decade, to prevent any further flare-up of the situation.On Wednesday, a division bench presided by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam directed that it will be “open to the CBI or the ED also to arrest” the absconding Sheikh, noting that he has been on the run for a substantial period.The high court had on Monday directed the state police to arrest him.Police said that over 100 complaints were registered against Sheikh over the last few weeks, which saw violent protests led by women demanding his arrest.He has been booked under IPC sections 376D (gang rape) and 307 (attempt to murder), they said.Sheikh’s close aides Shibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar were earlier arrested on similar charges.His another associate, Ajit Maiti, was held in connection with the allegations of land grabbing.Police said most of the complainants claimed that Shajahan forcibly took over land from the people, and tortured the women of the area.Sheikh was at large since an ED team that went to raid his house in connection with the alleged ration scam was attacked by a mob of around 1,000 people on January 5.
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