Kolkata: Confusions continue to galore over the roots of Ansar Sheikh, the prime accused in the case pertaining to the communal violence that broke out in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area on April 16.
Although he owns a luxurious mansion at Kumarpur in Haldia, the prime industrial township in East Midnapore district near Kolkata, his name does not figure in the local voters’ list.
A top official of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal, who did not wish to be named, said that after being contacted by the Crime Branch of Kolkata Police, the CID did it own cross-checks about Ansar’s past and his associations with Haldia.
“Although several theories are doing the rounds about Ansar Sheikh’s political affiliations, we did not get any definite information about his active political involvement, at least in Haldia and East Midnapore, be it in the past or now,” the CID official said.
The second contradiction is about his roots. While some sources have claimed that he was originally from Assam, some others claimed that he actually hailed from Bihar.
“His association with Haldia started after he married a local woman and later built a two-storey mansion there. In fact, as told to us by the local people, by the in-laws of Ansar Sheikh came from an extremely humble financial background and their lifestyle improved only after the marriage. According to the local people, Ansar was an ideal son-in-law,” the CID official said.
Meanwhile, another controversy has erupted about the contradictory statements made by Trinamool Congress councillor from Ward No. 15 in Haldia, Sheikh Ajijul Rahman, whose picture with Ansar went viral on April 21.
On that day, Rahman claimed that although he knew Ansar as a local from Haldia, he could not recollect where the picture was clicked.
But now he is claiming that the picture was clicked in 2019 in Delhi.
“I went to Delhi with my family and from there we were supposed to go to Manali. On hearing that I am in Delhi, Ansar came to meet me, since we were known to each other. At that point of time the picture was clicked. That was our last interaction,” claimed Rahman, who’s also a member of the chairman-in-council of Haldia Municipality.
As reported by IANS on April 19, Ansar enjoyed the image of a philanthropist in Haldia due to his charity works. He was also quite popular among the neighbours as whenever he used to visit Haldia, he arranged feasts at his mansion where the neighbours were invited.
