West Bengal: CBI interrogates TMC leader Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case

Asansol (West Bengal): Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Anubrata Mondal battled another round of CBI interrogation over the cattle smuggling case at the Asansol correctional facility on Thursday. The CBI investigators led by Sushant Bhattacharya, the investigating officer of the case, entered the Asansol correctional facility and interrogated Anubrata Mondal, who is in jail custody. This is the third time that Anubrata Mondal - a ‘Bahubali’ leader and Birbhum district president of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) - was interrogated by the CBI over the cattle smuggling case. Anubrata Mondal, a close associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was arrested last week in connection with the 2020 cattle smuggling case. He was earlier sent to CBI custody till August 20. Anubrata Mondal had been summoned several times by the CBI asking but he had evaded citing health issues. He was finally arrested on August 11 from his residence at Bolpur in Birbhum district. Anubrata Mondal was sent to 14-day judicial custody by the CBI Special Court in the alleged cattle smuggling case on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a special CBI court judge has alleged that he has received a letter threatening to implicate his family in drug smuggling cases if he did not grant bail to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal. Rajesh Chakraborty, a judge at the Asansol Special CBI court, had alleged that he had received a letter signed by one Bappa Chatterjee. The special court judge had claimed that the letter warned that if Anubrata Mondal “was not released his family members would be implicated in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case. The arrest also led to a war of words between the BJP and the TMC. Finance Minister of West Bengal Chandrima Bhattacharya had alleged that the CBI summons to Mondal was “political vendetta.” BJP leaders have repeatedly accused the TMC regime of fostering corruption. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on September 21, 2020, arrested a former Border Security Force (BSF) Commandant, in connection with an illegal cattle smuggling case across the Indo-Bangladesh border. Anubrata Mondal had come under the CBI scanner during the investigation of the case, the agency had claimed. On Wednesday, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) had raided the main office of the JHM group at Bentinck Street in the West Bengal capital of Kolkata in connection with the cattle smuggling case. The JHM group, which has been raided, belonged Humayun Kabir, Jahangir Alam, and Mehedi Hasan - nephews of TMC leader Enamul Haque. Enamul Haque was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 18 and is currently in judicial custody. With this attachment, the total attachment, in this case, had reached Rs 11.67 crore. Proceeds of Crime to the tune of Rs. 418 crore till then were identified by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.