CBI Arrests Trinamool Congress Leader Anubrata in Cattle Smuggling Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday, August 11, 2022, arrested Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal in comnnnection with the cross-border cattle smuggling case. The arrest comes after Mr. Mondal, a prominent TMC leader skipped several summons by the agency, including two in the past one week.

On Thursday, a team of CBI officials along with several CRPF personnel arrived at the house of Mr. Mondal at Bolpur in Birbhum.  They entered the house and picked up the TMC leader and drove off.

Mr. Mondal was asked to appear before the CBI on August 8 and August 10, but the TMC leader skipped the summons. On August 8, Mr. Mondal tried to get admission to State run SSKM hospital in Kolkata but the doctors said that he did not require hospitalisation.

No stranger to controversy

Mr. Mondal, a prominent TMC leader and has been instrumental in establishing party’s dominance in Birbhum and adjoining districts. He has been no stranger to controversy and often accused of violence and political murders of the supporters of Opposition parties. Mr. Mondal has also grabbed headlines for his public utterances like “hurling bombs at the police” and more recemtly “Khela Hobe (Game is On)” before 2021 Assembly polls in the State.

The cattle smuggling case relates to the smuggling of cattle through the India-Bangladesh border through cattle markets in Birbhum. The CBI has filed chargesheets in the case, the last being on Monday (August 8, 2022). In the chargesheet, Mr. Mondal’s security officer Saigal Hossain has been named as accused. Mr. Hossain has been arrested in the case and remains behind bars. The other accused named in the chargesheets include a former BSF commandant Satish Kumar, former Trinamool leader Binya Mishra, and Abdul Lateef, owner of a cattle haat in Birbhum.

The arrest of Anubrata Mondal comes close on the heels of the arrest of former party heavyweight Partha Chatterjee by the Enforcement Directorate in the School Service Commission(SSC) recruitment scam. Mr. Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose house ₹50 crore was recovered, are behind bars since July 23. On Wednesday CBI arrested two officials of SSC in the scam.