Anger was nonetheless palpable in Sandeshkhali on Tuesday, 5 days after violent protests, led largely by native girls, broke out within the village to demand the arrest of a Trinamool Congress strongman Sheikh Shajahan and his aides.

With sticks and brooms of their palms, the protesters fanned out throughout Sandeshkhali, a block with a number of villages nestled between lakes and marshes of the decrease Ganga wetlands. By the afternoon, Sheikh’s aide Shiba Prasad Hazra’s home was vandalised and a poultry farm belonging to him was set ablaze. In the times since, extra properties linked to Hazra, and one other aide of Sheikh, Uttam Sardar, have been focused.

Among the protesters was a 55-year-old girl, who sat within the courtyard of her house overlooking the farm. “I used to work in that poultry farm. It belongs to Shiba Prasad Hazra. I worked there for five months. I was offered ₹ 6,000 for a month without any holiday. But they paid me only for three months. When I asked Bacchu Mondol, Hazra’s close aide, to clear the dues they threatened to harm my family,” she mentioned.

With no employees left, many birds on the farm have since died, whereas villagers rescued the remaining.

When HT visited the block and villages, together with Jelekhali, Tushkhali, Situlia and Manipur close by, many shared comparable tales of exploitation by the Trinamool chief and his aides. The protests, a few of them mentioned, was a response from a individuals who had had sufficient of compelled labour, land grabbing and repeated assaults — a few of them, probably, sexual.

“I had five bighas of farmland. But three years ago, Hazra forced me to lease out 1.5 bighas so that he could turn them into bheris (fish farms). I was offered a paltry sum of ₹5,000 per year. But after paying for just one year even that was stopped. If you dare to press him to clear the dues he would call you at his office and thrash you. And if it was a woman, she was threatened with rape. Many villagers have faced it,” mentioned a person who owns a tea stall in Trimoni Bazar, a number of metres from the Sandeshkhali ferry ghat.

The man and the girl requested to not be named for worry of being focused.

While police have arrested Sardar, Sheikh and Hazra are nonetheless absconding.

Villagers mentioned that when a Left stronghold, the individuals of Sandeshkhali voted for Trinamool Congress in giant numbers in 2011.

“It has been going on since then. You may say that this is the result of years of torture or harassment. It was just an outburst waiting to happen as the villagers had their back against the wall. They were forced to attend meetings and rallies no matter what. If anyone refused either his shop would be forcibly shut for days or he would be beaten up,” mentioned a 3rd individual, a neighborhood shopkeeper.

Such was Sheikh’s affect that on January 5, when Enforcement Directorate officers went to look his home in reference to the multi-crore ration distribution rip-off, his supporters attacked the federal crew. Sheikh is understood to be a detailed aide of arrested state minister Jyoti Priyo Mallick, who was arrested in October final yr and is now in jail.

“Even the police turned a blind eye. Anyone, who would go to lodge a complaint against Hazra, was told to meet bhai (Sheikh). If someone dared to protest, they would be summoned by Sheikh and his men and beaten up,” mentioned Malati Das, a resident of Tushkhali village.

Trying to succeed in Trinamool’s management, one other villager added, can be futile because the trio would discover out.

“No doubt chief minister Mamata Banerjee has done many things for us including providing free ration and giving us financial assistance under Lakshmir Bhandar. But these leaders at the grassroot level tortured us. They would say they had the TMC supremo’s blessings,” mentioned a lady, who didn’t wish to be named.

The Trimoni bazar wore a abandoned look on Tuesday as prohibitory orders beneath part 144 of the CrPC have been clamped and web companies have been suspended. The Calcutta excessive court docket, nonetheless, put aside the prohibitory orders on Tuesday.

Among the allegations have been that ladies have been sexually assaulted by Hazra and his aides, after a video emerged by which a lady may very well be heard saying that many housewives have been compelled to remain on the houses of TMC staff and leaders for weeks and even months. HT couldn’t independently confirm the allegations or the video.

Senior law enforcement officials refuted the fees. DIG CID who went to Sandeshkhali advised media individuals: “We received four complaints from villagers on Tuesday. None alleged any sexual assaults. Some alleged they were beaten. Most of them alleged that they were threatened with dire consequences.”

A crew of the National Commission for Women visited Sandeshkhali on Tuesday however it too didn’t discover allegation of sexual assault. The Calcutta excessive court docket has taken a suo motu cognizance of allegations.

“We have been going through hell and hence this outburst. We had heard of the torture in colonial days and under Zamindari system. But this was worse. Now the villagers have decided. It would be either them (Sheikh, Hazra and Sardar) or us,” mentioned a villager.