After years of fear: 16 Sandeshkhali residents return home amid fall of TMC regime, Sheikh Shahjahan era ends

After returning to their village in the Sarberia area, the villagers said the move marked the end of a prolonged period of fear allegedly linked to the dominance of TMC strongman Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides.

According to reports, their return was facilitated by the BJP following the fall of the TMC government, which had first come to power in 2011 after ending the 34-year Left Front rule in the state.

The villagers, many of whom returned after years in exile, said they had fled following the 2016 Assembly elections after allegedly being targeted for opposing the entry of “criminal elements” into the party. During their self-imposed exile, several of them joined the BJP, which is now set to form the government in Bengal after a landslide victory in the Assembly polls.

Sharing his experience, 43-year-old farmer Sheikh Ataur Rahaman told The Telegraph: “I fled home a day after the results of the 2016 Assembly elections were announced. On that day, a gang of about 100 armed goons under Sheikh Shahjahan attacked me. They fired 13 rounds indiscriminately targeting me, but I managed to escape through dense paddy fields.”

He claimed his “only fault” was protesting against the entry of alleged anti-social elements into the Trinamool Congress, whom he said were previously aligned with the CPM and had allegedly assaulted TMC workers during the Left Front regime.

“Many of us who had played an instrumental role in establishing Trinamool in Sandeshkhali opposed this. That angered Shahjahan and the new entrants. They conspired overnight to eliminate me, but I was lucky to survive,” he alleged.

Recalling the hardships faced by his family, Rahaman said: “After that, they unleashed unbearable torture on my parents and my elder sister. So they also fled. Finding no way out, we joined the BJP in 2017 and remained in contact with them.”

Another resident, Sirajul Sheikh, shared a similar experience. Speaking to the newspaper, he alleged that anti-social elements close to Shahjahan attacked him despite him being a founding member of the TMC.

“My protest angered Shahjahan, who set his henchmen to eliminate me,” Sirajul claimed.

“For a decade, I lived a life in exile, far away from my home and family, without any stable source of income, only to save my life. I joined the BJP in 2018 and have now finally been able to return,” he added.

He further alleged that several others who opposed Shahjahan and his aides were tortured, had their land grabbed and were eventually forced to flee the area.

“We are relieved after the fall of the atrocious regime of the Trinamool Congress that encouraged criminals like Sheikh Shahjahan to unleash fear in Sandeshkhali,” Sirajul claimed.

Sandeshkhali incident

The unrest in Sandeshkhali in 2024 — a remote block around 80 km from Kolkata in the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district — erupted after a team from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached Sheikh Shahjahan’s residence to question him in connection with the alleged ration distribution scam in the state.

Shahjahan’s aides allegedly assaulted and chased ED officials, turning the region into a major political flashpoint ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Several women from the village later staged protests carrying brooms and sticks, demanding the arrest of the TMC strongman. Protesters alleged that Shahjahan and his aides forcibly grabbed land and sexually harassed women in the area.

Following nationwide attention over the protests, Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested in 2024 in connection with the mob attack on ED officials.