PM Modi speaks to Rekha Patra, BJP's Basirhat Lok Sabha candidate and Sandeshkhali survivor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to Rekha Patra, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha candidate from Basirhat.

She is one of the victims of Sandeshkhali assault, allegedly perpetrated by jailed former Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan.

PM Modi asked Patra about her Basirhat campaign and support for BJP. She also narrated the ordeal of Sandeshkhali victims.

Sandeshkhali, a village in North 24 Parganas, hogged limelight when a team of Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials that had gone there for a probe in the ration scam, got attacked by supporters of local TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan.

Last month, hundreds of women staged protests accusing Shahjahan and his aides of land grabbing and sexual assault in Sandeshkhali. 

As the protests intensified, the TMC suspended Shahjahan from the party for six years. After evading police for two months, he was arrested on February 29. 

Later, Shahjahan was handed over to the CBI following a Calcutta high court order.