Kolkata, Mar 30 (IANS): In a sudden development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday took the custody of Sheikh Shahjahan, the suspended Trinamool Congress leader who's accused of being the mastermind behind the attack on ED and CAPF teams at Sandeshkhali in West Bengal on January 5.

Armed with a local court order, a team of ED officers interrogated Shahjahan at the Basirhat sub-jail in North 24 Parganas district on Saturday afternoon in connection with the multi-crore ration distribution case in the state.

Following around four hours of questioning, the ED decided to take Shahjahan into custody after the accused reportedly didn't cooperate in the questioning process, and avoided most of the queries posed by the interrogating officers.

Shahjahan was first arrested by the Basirhat district police in February this year on charges of planning and orchestrating the attack on ED and CAPF teams on January 5.

Thereafter, he was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police after the latter took over the investigation, before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took him into custody following an order from the Calcutta High Court.

Sources said the ED will take Shahjahan to its office in central Kolkata on Saturday night itself.

Initially, the ED was considering taking Shahjahan into custody next week after getting the necessary permission from a special PMLA court in Kolkata. However, considering his non-cooperative approach during questioning, the central agency decided to take him into custody with immediate effect.