The Bengal government has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court ruling asking the CBI to investigate claims of extortion, land grab, and sexual assault made by Sandeshkhali against suspended Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his colleagues.

This comes only hours after the CBI, which is also investigating the January 5 attack on an Enforcement Directorate team, raided hideouts linked to the suspects.

According to sources, the federal agency seized foreign-made guns and ammo, prompting teams of elite commandos from the National Security Guard to be deployed to the scene.

The Sandeshkhali row erupted after a mob of Shahjahan supporters attacked an ED team on its way to conduct searches in connection with a separate case. After that incident, which injured ED officers, the Trinamool strongman fled (and remained concealed for about two months).

The attack on the ED team sparked a violent political debate, especially since the general election was just weeks away, with the BJP and even the Congress (on paper a Trinamool ally) blasting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government for delaying the arrest of Sheikh Shahjahan.

Shahjahan, who had previously been investigated by the ED for money laundering in the ration and land scams that had shaken Bengal politics, was finally arrested on February 29, 2004.

The entire matter has escalated into a significant flashpoint ahead of the election, which began last Friday.

The BJP accused the Trinamool of hiding Shahjahan, who was arrested only after the High Court's explicit directive; this came after disputed comments by Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, who said the state could not arrest Shahjahan because the court had "tied (police's) hands".

The BJP has fielded Rekha Patra, one of the women who alleged sexual assault by Shahjahan, as a candidate for the Basirhat seat, which includes Sandeshkhali.

The Trinamool has responded by citing ex-wrestling body chief Brij Bhushan Singh, a sitting BJP MP accused of sexual assault by female wrestlers.

Amid all of this, the Bengal administration received a stinging scolding earlier this month from the state's High Court, which heard papers demanding investigations into the Sandeshkhali claims on Thursday.

A bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam stated that the state could not avoid accountability if the charges were proven genuine. "Even if one affidavit is correct, it is shameful..." he went on to say.

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