Kolkata, Feb 8 : Hundreds of women in Sandeshkhali in West Bengal hit the streets on Thursday morning demanding arrest of absconding Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, also the mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF personnel on January 5 this year.

The principal allegation is that the women of Sandeshkhali were victims of immense humiliation and torture by Shahjahan and his associates before he went absconding after the attack.

Some of Shahjahan's associates named by them on this count included Amir Gazi, Sibaprasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.

The protesting women also claimed that all of them were on the forefront when the orchestrated attack on the ED and CAPF personnel took place on that day.

The protesting women complained that besides forcefully grabbing the land of the villagers in the area, the associates of the absconding ruling party leader virtually made it impossible for the women to come out of their houses after sunset.

The group of women protesters tried to march towards Sandeshkhali Police Station to stage a protest there, but as the police stopped them at a distance they sat on the streets and started protesting there.

'We will continue with our protests until Shahjahan is arrested. He acted like a tiger in the locality. Now after the attack he is hiding like a cat,' one of the women protesters said.

They also accused the local police of being hand-in-glove with the absconding ruling party leader.

'When we approached the local police station with any complaint, the cops advised us to approach Shahjahan for remedy,' another protester said.

/IANS