National Commission for Scheduled Tribes team visits Sandeshkhali

A three-member delegation of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) is visiting trouble-torn Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Thursday morning, 22 February and will speak to locals.

The visit by NCST comes days after the visit by the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

"We will meet the people there and look into their complaints," NCST acting chairperson Ananta Nayak told reporters.

The National Human Rights Commission(NHRC) on Wednesday, 21 February had issued a notice to the state government and police chief regarding ongoing violence and human rights violations in the area.

Recognising the gravity of the situation, the NHRC has additionally decided to "dispatch its team to verify facts through an on-site investigation" into the occurrences of "human rights violations" in Sandeshkhali, situated in the North 24 Parganas district, as per official sources.

A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexually assaulting" them under coercion.

Shahjahan Sheikh has been absconding after a mob, allegedly affiliated to him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to search his premises in connection with a ration scam on 5 January.