Who is Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh, whom ED is pursuing in West Bengal?

Sheikh is now operating in the shadows. A mafia king; no local police or politician would go against him on record.

He was at his home when ED officers first raided him on January 5, 2024. The ED officers, backed by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, beat a hasty retreat after more than 2,000 supporters of Sheikh surrounded the building where their boss was hiding.

The ED officers, some beaten badly by Sheikh's supporters, suspected Sheikh was guarding an estimated Rs 60 crore in cash in a secret room behind a closet in his palatial home. He also had a huge cache of firearms, ED officers claim.

Sheikh has never been arrested, his disappearance has left his investigators clueless, and without footprints or fingerprints. Police say Sheikh’s hide-and-seek has created some sort of a legend around him in Sandeshkhali.

Why does Shahjahan Sheikh have so many supporters in North 24 Parganas?

Till the ED officers came looking for him, Sheikh was seen as the invincible ruler of Sandeshkhali.

When Sheikh walked with an entourage to distribute cash, women showered him with rose petals, blew conch shells and offered ulu dhwani, a vocal sound made to bring in auspiciousness and drive out negative vibes.

“Shahjahan handled cash on behalf of his political masters,” says Dipanjan Chakravarty, a former NSG commando. Chakravarty, who tracked illegal operations across the eastern border for over two decades, told Moneycontrol that Sheikh was being chased by the ED for money laundering.

In a charge sheet submitted in a Kolkata court, the ED has said it has found evidence of cash worth Rs 20,000 crore being transferred illegally abroad through the hawala route.

What was the multi-crore Bengal ration scam?

Bengal’s minister of forest Jyotipriyo Mallick and his confidant Shankar Adya are currently in jail after being arrested by the ED for their alleged involvement in Bengal’s multi-crore ration scam. The scam came to light after it was found that food grains meant to be sold through ration stores were illegally sold at high prices in the local market.

“He (Sheikh) had a huge network spanning Bengal and next-door Bangladesh. And he had protection from politicians and cops. So, Shahjahan thought he was invincible,” added Chakravarty.

Locals in Sandeshkhali say Sheikh was named by his parents after the Mughal emperor because they wanted him to earn fame.

Sources in Kolkata told this reporter that a collection of Sheikh’s hawala notes had been given by some of his arrested associates to the ED. And it might shed some light on the connections between Sheikh and top leaders of the ruling TMC in Bengal.

While doing the reporting for this story in January 2024, this reporter reached out to TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, who said he had no comments to offer on the ED operation.

“The ED has already established that such a trove existed. The hunt for Shahjahan has become very serious,” added Chakravarty.

The investigators, over the years, have found evidence that Sheikh also stayed in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai. But he left no trace. He was everywhere and nowhere.

Updates from Sandeshkhali

West Bengal state police head Rajeev Kumar told reporters in Gangasagar, a holy town, that his team would not spare anyone. But nothing happened for a fortnight and Sheikh is still missing. West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has also asked Rajeev Kumar and Bengal’s principal secretary Nandini Chakravarty to arrest Sheikh.

Now, a court in Kolkata has asked the state police to urgently track Sheikh after ED officers complained the police were not speeding up their hunt and were – actually – assisting Sheikh in escaping from one home to another under the cover of darkness. The ED complaint came after images of police searching for Sheikh under the seats of state transport buses appeared on local television channels.

ED officials believe a network of associates, high-ranking professionals and local residents helped Sheikh run his network of illegal cash, narcotics and gold from Bangladesh and Myanmar, human trafficking, cow smuggling, and collection from fisheries and transporters. He owned a chain of businesses in Bangladesh, much of which has been dismantled by Bangladesh Police in the last two weeks after Dhaka was tipped off by New Delhi.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

ED investigations have pieced together a huge jigsaw puzzle that shows Sheikh operated a global business cartel illegally, and his men knew how to handle sophisticated operations to move drugs and gold to international destinations through elaborate legal, financial and technical adjuncts, and launder cash.

“He ran an empire and was unstoppable because he had the state backing him,” says Sanmoy Banerjee, a political analyst in Kolkata. Banerjee told this reporter that the ED has unearthed enough evidence of Sheikh’s illegal cash transfers abroad. “The noose is tightening fast.”

Kazi Masun Akhtar, an educationist and political analyst in Bengal, feels the Sheikh episode has brought shame to the state. “He could have been easily arrested. It's been days and the cops still are clueless. The attacks on the ED officers and CRPF guards were all pre-planned. Sheikh wanted chaos to happen so that he could remove the cash and arms. And then he expected the CRPF to open fire. If some villagers had died, the situation would have turned communal. But the CRPF guards showed tremendous restraint.”

Legend surrounding Shahjahan Sheikh

In North 24 Parganas which borders Bangladesh, Sheikh is seen as a hero. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had once told reporters that Sheikh was a social worker whom she trusted because of his grassroots connections and Sheikh was not a criminal.

For over two decades, Sheikh has allegedly unleashed a reign of terror on an unprecedented scale, hitting out at his rivals now and then. The area falls under the Basirhat constituency.

Sheikh was once supported by the Left Front which was in power in Bengal for over three decades.

There are over 40 cases of murder, arson, looting, and inciting communal violence registered against Sheikh but the cases have hardly progressed beyond the FIR stage. Every time an FIR was registered against him, Sheikh would disappear for a few days. And then he would emerge to tear up the copy of the FIR right inside the police station. It looked like a scene straight out of Bollywood.

Some years ago, one Pradip Mandal – rumoured to be close to the BJP – was shot dead in Sandeshkhali. Mandal’s family blamed Sheikh and approximately 25 of his followers for the murder. An FIR was lodged. But within days, Mandal’s family left Sandeshkhali. It is alleged that Sheikh’s men forced them to leave their home and settle elsewhere, preferably in Kolkata.

The sources said Sheikh also targeted cops, lawyers, prosecutors and even journalists who sought to stand in his way. He led the criminals in Sandeshkhali from the front and shaped people’s social and economic lives in North 24 Parganas.

He was barely 17 when Sheikh allegedly kidnapped the owner of a local fishery marking his formal entry into the world of crime. And then, Sheikh walked out of school to take up a job as a ticket seller in a state transport bus. But he quit the job soon to take to crime. He was quietly inducted to the Left Front to help politicians increase their grip in both North and South 24 Parganas.

But with the rise of the TMC, Sheikh shifted allegiance because the TMC offered him a bigger role. Along with that came more cash, or what is now known as cut money in Bengal.

Groomed by Musalman Sheikh, the CPM Panchayat Head in Sandeshkhali, Shahjahan Sheikh was employed as a tea supplier. That was around 2000-2001 when the Left Front ruled Bengal. In 2009, he shifted allegiance and walked across to TMC. And eventually, he was made the Sandeshkhali Block TMC President. And then, he was made the Panchayat Head of Sarberia-Agarhati Panchayat.

He developed a band of brothers who would wreak havoc at the slightest of instructions from Sheikh. These followers could travel across Sandeshkhali in their booming Royal Enfield bikes, many even carried 6MM pistols. Some were engaged in human trafficking, narcotics, gold, expensive life-saving drugs and cow smuggling. These men were called Pakhi, which translates as bird. These men would easily move in and out of Bangladesh and carry narcotics, gold and trafficked humans and cattle.

Highly placed sources in Kolkata told this reporter that Sheikh routinely took cut money from those in the fisheries, real estate and garments businesses in the region. What is interesting is that there is nothing on paper to prove how much cash he took but it is alleged that he took nearly 20 percent each time the fisheries auctions took place. The huge tracts of land he has illegally occupied from gullible farmers are used by his men to breed fish.

He dresses in a pair of jeans and bush shirts and prefers to back brush his hair. In the recent Lok Sabha elections in Basirhat, he worked overtime to help TMC candidate Nusrat Jehan win her maiden election. Jehan’s BJP rival, Sayantan Basu, worried by Sheikh’s influence, sought the presence of additional CRPF in the area. He still could not win, losing to Nusrat Jehan. Prior to the elections, Sheikh helped the chit-fund owners rule over the region with his clout, and he was handsomely rewarded.

Now, Sheikh knows the noose is tightening on him and the ED, CBI and other central forces are gaining ground in Bengal.

He is in hiding. But that does not mean he is down and out. People in Sandeshkhali say when darkness falls, Sheikh returns to his base to take stock.

For 12 days before this reporter visited Sandeshkhali, but was unable to reach Sheikh's home under the heavy watch from his supporters, the “betaj badshah” of Sandeshkhali has not taken stock of his works, or daily earnings. He is changing homes every night, he must win the cat and mouse game. And must not give in to the ED.

If that happens, big heads would roll in Bengal.