In a significant development, director general of police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar reached Sandeshkhali this afternoon to take stock of the situation.

Arriving by boat and then on toto, he made his way to the Sandeshkhali police station, accompanied by additional director general of police (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar and superintendent of police of Basirhat region Hossain Mehedi Rehman. Discussions commenced at the police station, addressing various issues with the police force and CCTV installation amid the law and order challenges.

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The DGP was engaged in talks with the police, emphasizing discipline and addressing multiple concerns. This is the first time the DGP arrived in Sandeshkhali since the turmoil began on 9 February. Prior to the meeting, he refrained from making any statements in front of the media. Already, a team of 10 police officers have been formed to investigate the area, venturing from village to village to address complaints. Despite skepticism, the presence of the DGP is considered crucial.

Notably, the police arrested two Trinamul Congress leaders, Shibhu Hazra and Uttam Sardar along with leaders from the CPM and the BJP. Following a media interaction by the DGP, Shibhu Hazra was arrested, but TMC’s Sandeshkhali-2 block president, Shahjahan Sheikh, remains at large. In a turn of events, Shahjahan faced aggression at his residence on 5 January in connection with a ration corruption case. However, discontent among locals against the ruling party has been brewing since the first week of February, leading to incidents like the arson at Shibu’s poultry farm and house burglary. The region continues to witness daily incidents, from Najat to Sandeshkhali.

Against this backdrop, DIG Rajeev Kumar visited Sandeshkhali on Wednesday, signalling potential shifts in the ongoing developments. Meanwhile, police from Sandeshkhali lodged an FIR complaint following a rape case against Bhanu Mandal, Amir Ali Gazi and Shibu Hazra. This is the second complaint of rape. Today the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has sought reports from West Bengal chief secretary B P Gopalika and DGP Rajeev Kumar on the ongoing crisis at Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas district over sexual harassment allegations against local Trinamul Congress leaders.

NCST has also communicated to the state secretariat that a field-inspection team of the commission will visit Sandeshkhali on Thursday. In a letter to the CS and DGP, the commission has clearly stated that unless a detailed report on the Sandeshkhali crisis is available within the next 72 hours, both will have to personally appear in front of the commission in New Delhi. The commission has sought details of the action taken by the state government over complaints of harassment at Sandeshkhali. The NCST is the fourth central commission after the National Commission of Scheduled Castes (NCSC), National Commission for Women (NCW) and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) visited Sandeshkhali.

Political observers are of the opinion that the nature of the ongoing crisis at Sandeshkhali is so varied that it has opened the avenues for multiple central commissions to intervene in the matter. “Since principal case is allegation of sexual harassment, the NCW has rightly stepped into the matter. Secondly, since many of the victims both in cases of illegal land grabbing and sexual harassment hail from the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community, the factor has opened avenues for both NCSC and NCST to intervene.