Attack on JP Nadda's Convoy: 2 Trinamool Leaders Arrested in Bengal After 6 Years, Firearms Seized

• by Akanksha Mishra
• 2026-09-21 14:30:00

In a significant investigative breakthrough nearly six years after the high-profile political violence that rocked West Bengal ahead of the 2021 assembly elections, state police have arrested two local Trinamool Congress leaders connected to the December 2020 ambush on the convoy of then-BJP National President J.P. Nadda. Acting on renewed intelligence inputs, law enforcement teams conducted targeted raids in the Mograhat West belt of South 24 Parganas, apprehending the two accused, identified as Ripan Sheikh and Sanjiv Mandal. Police teams also seized illegal firearms from their possession during the raid, triggering fresh political ripples across the state's political landscape as investigators work to establish the origin of the weapons and map the broader network involved in the historic assault.

Ambush at Shirakol: A High-Profile 2020 Convoy Attack Revisited

The violent episode unfolded in December 2020 when J.P. Nadda was travelling toward Diamond Harbour in South 24 Parganas to attend a scheduled political gathering, accompanied in the motorcade by prominent state leaders including then-Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and senior leader Sukanta Majumdar. As the convoy crossed the Shirakol crossing, it was ambushed by a mob that pelted heavy stones, hurled bricks, and smashed windshields, causing substantial damage to escort and media vehicles. Dilip Ghosh remarked at the time that had senior leaders not been travelling in specialized bulletproof vehicles, the assault could easily have turned fatal. Investigators state that Ripan Sheikh and Sanjiv Mandal are known locally as influential Trinamool workers who allegedly controlled intimidation networks and bike squads across the Mograhat belt, with their direct operational involvement in the convoy attack now undergoing intensive forensic and interrogation scrutiny.

Revived Case Files and the Road Ahead for Investigators

While the primary First Information Report (FIR) originally named a prime suspect named Jahangir—who was taken into custody following earlier post-poll actions—further prosecution had previously stalled due to procedural delays and investigative lapses. The formal reopening of cold case dockets has now led directly to the arrests of Sheikh and Mandal. Specialized police units are currently tracing the chain of custody for the recovered arms and ammunition, verifying the suspects' exact movements on the day of the convoy ambush, and identifying other conspirators who formed the mob near Shirakol as the revived case heads to court.

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