The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a district court on Thursday that the now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, who’s the mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF teams at Sandeshkhali on January 5, had arranged local anti-social elements over phone to carry out the attack.

Shahjahan was produced before the Basirhat sub-divisional court on Thursday on the expiry of his CBI custody.

During the hearing, the CBI counsel named two persons — Ziauddin Molla and Didarbux Molla — with whom Shahjahan interacted before the attack on January 5 to orchestrate the act.

Earlier, the ED had also claimed that when their officers accompanied by CAPF personnel were attacked by over 1,000 people on January 5, Shahjahan was at his residence in front of which the attack took place, citing the call details of his two cellphones.

The CBI counsel on Thursday also moved a plea for recording the statements of three individuals in the case.

Sources said the three individuals have voluntarily agreed to record their statements, claiming that they were being falsely implicated by the state police to safeguard Shahjahan and his associates.

(This article has been published via a syndicated feed)