NATC chairperson acquired multiple properties in 10 years
The Statesman | 4 July 2025
Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials were left stunned by the opulent interiors of the rural residence of Sheikh Jinnar Ali, chairperson of the National Anti-Trafficking Committee (NATC), during a 12-hour raid in Kshemta village, Raina, yesterday.
Several land deed documents were seized, along with a luxury SUV—bearing an ED insignia on the windscreen—allegedly used by Sheikh for extortion purposes.
The raid was conducted following a complaint filed by a sand miner from Bankura, who alleged that Sheikh had been impersonating an ED official to run an extortion racket. The complainant claimed to have paid Sheikh Rs 1.5 crore in two instalments.
Sheikh Jinnar Ali has held the position of NATC chairperson since 2018. “Before taking up the role, he lived in a modest ancestral house with a tin roof and the family owned just 3 bighas,” said Sheikh Murshed, former village committee head of the Trinamool Congress.
Murshed and his neighbour, Rafik Sheikh, added: “In the last decade, he experienced a meteoric rise. We were all astonished by the source of his wealth. When he purchased 25 bighas of prime roadside land at Seharabazar, he reportedly handed over a bag full of cash, asked the seller to deduct Rs 1.25 crore, and keep the rest, saying he had no time to count it.”
According to ED investigators, Sheikh bought several properties in Kolkata, North 24-Parganas, Burdwan, and Bankura, and also built a farmhouse near his lavish residence in Kshemta.
His former wife, Sabira Yasmin, filed a complaint with East Burdwan police, alleging that Sheikh had distributed business cards listing himself as an ‘advisor’ to various central government departments. “I left him after discovering that he had deceived me and my family by claiming to be a central government revenue officer, which was false,” she said.
Sheikh, an MBA graduate from Bengaluru, reportedly attended North Western University in the USA in 2010. According to NATC officials, he received several awards: the ‘Great Question of Life Award’ from the International Correspondence Institute of London in 1999, the ‘Best Social Worker’s Award’ from Uttar Pradesh in 2012, and the ‘Edu Ratna Award’ presented by minister Arup Roy in 2014.