They don’t want to show their faces. They declined to give their names. However, women of Sandeshkhali village in West Bengal’s 24 Parganas district stood on the main road holding placards. “We have lost faith in the local police. Save us. We need the CRPF,” some of them wrote.

The women covered their faces with saris and many cried and sought justice, falling on their knees at the feet of Governor CV Ananda Bose, who visited the region on Monday.

Women here have accused “missing” Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates of sexual harassment and torture. Sheikh has not been seen in public since Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials were attacked by a mob when they raided his residence in Sandeshkari over an alleged ration distribution scam.

One has to cross the Bidyadhari river to reach Sandeshkhali from the other side. Bose arrives directly from the airport by ferry Ghat. “I was in Kerala, trying to organize an exhibition for Bengal. I was shocked to hear about Sandeshkhali. I cut my visit short and went to Sandeshkhali to find out what sandesh (information) people had,” he said.

News18 follows the governor’s journey. From nearby Minakhan village to Shajahan’s territory, Bose can see various placards everywhere. Protesters who gathered around had “100 days of money back” written on some of them.

The governor was escorted by a police launch as he crossed the river. After reaching Sandeshkari, he started walking without waiting for a rickshaw or other transport.

When the governor tried to talk to a woman, she fell to her knees and cried at his feet. Others followed.

“Give us justice. Our people cannot stay at home now. They have escaped. We have no confidence in the local police,” many of them said.

An old woman said: “Just last night, they (police) came to our house and called us. If we show up, they will arrest our people.”

Another woman tied Rakhi to the governor’s hands. “Please delete Section 144 (prohibition on gathering of five or more people). Please ask CRPF to come here. We cannot go on like this,” she pleaded to the governor in tears.

Bose tried to comfort them and listened to them for more than half an hour.

When News18 spoke to the women, some of them said: “We will not show up. We will not reveal our names. Then they will take our people to Tana. They asked us not to meet the governor. The police asked us not to come out .”

News18 spotted another woman standing near a shop near Police Thane in Sandeshkhali. “We cannot tell you our names. We are standing here with flowers in our hands because we know the governor can solve our problems. They used to force us to go to rallies, they used to make us toil without money. In Shah Jahan and We will not stop until his aide Shiba Prasad Hazra is arrested. We want peace in Sandesh Khali,” she said.

Many women tied rakhis to the hands of the governor. When he promised them that he would be like a brother to them and would take care of them, the tearful women clapped their hands with joy, and when Bose left, they followed him to the edge of the village.

Another woman who also refused to be named told News18, “The police will not take any action. They are with Shah Jahan and his people. We hope the governor will help us. Our people are afraid to go home because the police will False accusations were made against them.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the mastermind behind the Sandeshkari violence has been jailed.

“Anyone can go to Sandeshkhali. We have no problem with that. We have sent a National Commission for Women team there. They came back and submitted a report. Those who instigated violence have been arrested. We are closely monitoring the situation and are taking action Necessary measures,” she told reporters at Dumuljalla Stadium in Howrah district.

The governor said he will travel directly to Delhi from Sandeshkari. “What happened to Sandesh Khali is shocking,” he said. “I’m their brother and I’m going to give them back their confidence.”

They said a team of BJP MLAs led by leader of opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari was prevented from traveling to Sandeshkari by the authorities during the governor’s visit.

“Before we started, a woman IPS officer told me that they would not allow us due to certain demands. I was the Leader of the Opposition and other MLAs were sitting in the bus. They would not allow us. We will meet the people of Sandeshkhali Stand together,” Adhikari told News18. “The governor visited Sandesh Khali on our request. After he visited the areas, he told us that everything we said was true. He will submit a report to the union home ministry on Tuesday and then We will see. Our mothers and sisters are not safe there and we will take care of them. We will keep an eye on the TMC team going there. They (police) will not allow us but they will allow them (TMC). This is It will not be tolerated. We will monitor this and then take action.”