Sandeshkhali: CBI creates dedicated email for locals' complaints

Sandeshkhali: For people of West Bengal's Sandeshkhali to register complaints of crimes against women and land grabbing, the CBI has announced a separate email address, [email protected]. The people of North 4 Parganas' Sandeshkhali could lodge their complaints online in this email address, PTI reported.

CBI said in a statement on Thursday, "In pursuance to the order passed by the division bench of Calcutta High Court on April 10, 2024, the CBI has created a dedicated email in which complaints of persons of Sandeshkhali regarding crimes against women and forcible grabbing of land may be lodged."

The statement added that the central agency had urged the district magistrate to extensively publicise the email ID with the locality as well as issue a public notice in vernacular newspapers with wide circulation.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a court-monitored CBI investigation into allegations of crimes against women and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali. The court noted that an "impartial inquiry" is required in the interest of justice and fair play.

Sandeshkhali made headlines after protests erupted there against the crimes of a Trinamool Congress leader, Shahjahan Sheikh and others who were involved in illegal land grabbing and sexual harassment of women. Sheikh, who had been on the run since the first week of January, was apprehended by the police in February.

It was January that severe protests erupted in Sandheshkhali, with villagers demanding the arrest of Sheikh and his two associates. The three were accused of forcibly acquiring land, pumping saltwater into fields to render them unusable, and engaging in sexual harassment. However, Sheikh went absconding since the Enforcement Directorate initiated a raid in a separate case of corruption.