Kolkata, June 20: In a significant operation, police in the Basanti area of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition on Saturday, leading to the arrest of two local leaders from the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The arrested individuals have been identified as Shaukat Gayen and Zafar Sheikh.
According to police reports, a joint team from the Basanti police station and the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) conducted a search operation. During this operation, 14 long-range weapons and 95 rounds of ammunition were recovered from a pond area linked to Shaukat Gayen.
Local sources indicate that Shaukat Gayen’s son, Rezaul Gayen, was elected as a panchayat member from the Kanthalberia gram panchayat on a TMC ticket. He is believed to have close ties with local TMC leader Raja Gazi.
In recent days, police have also raided locations associated with former TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, where several weapons were found hidden in a pond. In connection with this case, Ramzan Sheikh was arrested from Charavidya village; he is reported to have connections with former TMC MLA Soukat Molla.
Investigative agencies have noted that Ramzan Sheikh had ties to both Soukat Molla and Sheikh Shahjahan. Soukat Molla was recently arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a bomb blast case, while Sheikh Shahjahan has already been apprehended by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The STF had previously recovered several weapons from Ramzan Sheikh’s residence. During interrogations, his disclosures led to the discovery of multiple caches of weapons in the Basanti area.
Police received information during their questioning of Ramzan that weapons and ammunition were hidden beneath the steps of a pond at Shaukat Gayen’s residence. Acting on this tip-off, the search operation was conducted on Saturday, resulting in the substantial arms recovery.
Following the seizure, Shaukat Gayen and Zafar Sheikh were arrested for their alleged involvement in the case. The investigation is ongoing.
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