Meanwhile, the judge of a CBI special court claimed to have received a letter warning that if Mondal “was not released, his family members would be implicated in a case under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act with commercial quantity”.
(File Photo)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Wednesday, said it is conducting searches at four places in Bolpur and Kolkata in West Bengal in connection with a cattle smuggling case. According to CBI officials, a search is underway at the residence of a businessman in Bolpur, Birbhum who is said to be close to Birbhum district’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) president Anubrata Mondal.
Anubrata Mandal was sent to 14-day judicial custody by a special CBI court in the alleged cattle smuggling case last week. The TMC leader, who is said to be a close associate of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was recently arrested in connection with the 2020 cattle-smuggling case.
Meanwhile, the judge of the special court claimed to have received a letter warning that if Mondal “was not released, his family members would be implicated in a case under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act with commercial quantity”.
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The arrest was followed by a war of words between the BJP and the TMC. West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya alleged that the CBI summons issued to Mondal were part of a “political vendetta”. BJP leaders, on the other hand, have been repeatedly accusing the TMC government in the state of fostering corruption.
On September 21, 2020, the CBI arrested a former Border Security Force (BSF) commandant in connection with an illegal cattle smuggling case on the Indo-Bangladesh border.
Anubrata Mondal’s name came under CBI scanner during an investigation into the case, the agency had claimed.
(With inputs from ANI)
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