Anubrata Mondal arrested in cattle smuggling case
Kolkata: Anubrata Mondal, the Trinamool Congress Birbhum district president, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday from his house in Bolpur for his alleged involvement in the cross-border cattle smuggling case.
Mondal was produced at the Special CBI Court in Asansol and was remanded to CBI custody till August 20.
The CBI had earlier summoned Mondal on Monday for interrogation which he skipped. Later, on Tuesday, again a notice was sent to Mondal asking him to appear on Wednesday which was also skipped by the Trinamool Congress leader. On Thursday morning, the CBI officers accompanied by a contingent of the Central police force surrounded his house. The CBI officers went inside and started questioning Mondal. It is alleged that the Birbhum Trinamool Congress president was not cooperating with the CBI officers and thus, he was detained. It was further alleged that Mondal refused to sign on the arrest memo prepared by the central agency.
Later he was taken to a guest house of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) where he was officially arrested. From there, Mondal was taken to a Special CBI court in Asansol after a health check-up. The CBI had appealed before the court citing "non cooperation" from Mondal's end. Earlier, several persons, including Mondal's body guard Saigal Hossain who was said to be the close aide of the Trinamool Congress leader, were questioned. Hossain was interrogated during the CBI custody period and he reportedly mentioned Mondal's name.
In a statement, the CBI mentioned: "The said accused was consistently avoiding CBI's summons for a long time and not cooperating with the CBI investigation into the case. During investigation, the illegal cross-border selling of cattle, the related movement, delivery and use of ill-gotten money, was found. It was also alleged that the accused persons were organising and patronising large-scale illegal cattle smuggling to the neighbouring country and collecting huge money from other persons. It was also revealed that the accused procured a huge number of cattle from Illambazar Pashuhat and ensured safe passage for transportation of cattle to the international border."
During the hearing, the Magistrate asked Mondal about his health condition. Replying to the Magistrate, Mondal said that he is suffering from ailments like chest pain, kidney-related problems, piles, hypertension and others. Later, the Magistrate instructed the CBI to arrange for Mondal's treatment at the Alipore Command Hospital.
Meanwhile, Mondal's lawyer appealed for directions to meet Mondal every day. The court has granted the appeal and ordered the CBI to allow his lawyers to meet Mondal daily during the custody tenure.
The CBI had filed a charge-sheet in the cattle smuggling case on February 6, 2021 against seven accused persons. The central agency further filed three supplementary charge-sheets on February 23, and November 24 in 2021. The fourth charge-sheet was filed on August 8, 2022 against several other accused before the competent court.
