NCST probe reveals, TMC leaders stole MNREGA wages and tortured tribal people

GG News Bureau

West Bengal, 25th Feb.  According to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), Sheikh Shahjahan, the leader of the Trinamool Congress, compelled his aides to take MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) wages from the families while torturing the tribal members for voting against the party.

Investigating behind the scenes, a three-person panel headed by NCST vice-chairperson Ananta Nayak produced the shocking findings. According to Nayak, Shahjahan and his cronies were “protected” by the West Bengal Police from the heat resulting from the Sandeshkhali incident.

Shahjahan would order impoverished tribal people to give him their MNREGA earnings, the NCST team discovered. Nayak added that he had not seen anything similar across the nation. “And in case they had already exhausted it, he would ask them to borrow money from lenders and give it to him,” Nayak said.

After their return to Delhi, the investigation team is currently preparing the final report that will be submitted to the government. Over fifty complaints were reportedly filed with the panel regarding the sexual harassment of tribal women and the alleged land grab by Shahjahan and his associates.

“If the victim went to the police, they would suggest that they ‘negotiate’ with Shahjahan rather than filing a formal complaint or FIR. In this instance, the police supported the accused,” the Vice-Chairperson of NCST continued.