Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Anubrata Mondal, Birbhum district president of Trinamul Congress, has got bail from Delhi High Court today in connection with the cross-border cattle smuggling case.
She was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in April 2023, after the arrest of her father, his bodyguard Sehgal Hussein and his personal chartered accountant Manish Kothari.
All of them have been lodged in Tihar Jail in New Delhi since their arrest. Sukanya will be soon released from the jail as the CBI has not arrested her so far in the case the central investigating agency is probing.
The bail of Sukanya is a big relief for Anubrata and political observers feel that after the release of his daughter, after 15 months, Anubrata will also get bail soon.
His case will be heard in the latter half of September. The ED had claimed that there are huge assets in the name of Sukanya Mondal, which is disproportionate to her income and she had failed to provide a satisfactory reply.
After being taken to Tihar, ED even cross-examined her face-to-face with her father. Sehgal Hussein was arrested first by the CBI and then by the ED.
Anubrata Mondal was also arrested by the CBI from his house in Nichupatti in Bolpur and later by the ED.
The TMC leadership of Birbhum district has welcomed the release of Sukanya Mondal by Delhi High Court. “We have full faith in the court and the judiciary and hope that Anubrata Mondal will also get bail soon,” said Chandranath Sinha, Bolpur MLA and state minister for correctional administration.
Mr Sinha himself is facing a probe from the central agencies in the job scam.