In January 2024, an ED team was allegedly attacked while trying to search Shahjahan Sheikh’s home in Sandeshkhali. Owner of some fisheries units and brick kilns, Sheikh had won a zila parishad seat in 2023. Sheikh was on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate for alleged land grab.

Across the Kalagachi river in the Sunderbans region of West Bengals’ North 24 Paraganas district lies the island block of Sandeshkhali. Some pucca houses are scattered across the village, alongside mud houses – especially those belonging to fishermen who depend on the local river — which are also a common sight.…