In the Sandeshkhali case, the Power of Attorney charge against Sheikh Shahjahan
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has mentioned in its charge sheet that it has accessed crucial documents on how Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Shahjahan sold land owned by the people of Sandeshkhali.
This was over and above the other modus operandi adopted by them for grabbing land by rendering it useless after flooding it with saline water.
Shahjahan’s men forcefully got the signatures of land owners on the Power of Attorney authorizing Sheikh Shahjahan to sell that land to a third party, the ED mentions, according to sources.
As per the ED’s findings, once Sheikh Shahjahan got the Power of Attorney, the land was sold to a third party at premium prices while the actual land owner was given a paltry sum.
Sources added that the ED mentioned this Power of Attorney modus operandi adopted by Shahjahan in the charge sheet filed at a special court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Kolkata recently.
So far, the central agency has identified 59.5 acres of illegally-grabbed land.
ED officials have tracked another source of income of Shahjahan where fisheries owners were compelled to sell the fish, mainly prawn and shrimp, produced at their farms only to agents chosen by the leader at a paltry price fixed by him.
Later, the same fish products were sold at a premium in the export market.
In its charge sheet filed last month, the ED accused Shahjahan of collecting Rs.261 crore through illegal land grabbing in Sandeshkhali.
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
