Jailed TMC leader Anubrata Mondal directly involved in cattle smuggling case: CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named jailed TMC leader Anubrata Mondal in a 35-page chargesheet in the 2020 smuggling case. The central probe agency mentioned that Mondal was directly involved in the case.

In the fourth supplementary chargesheet that was filed within 57 days, the probe agency stated that they had examined several bank documents and land papers, conducted raids in several rice mills, and questioned several people, including Mondal's chartered accountant.

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The CBI seized 53 land deeds and recorded statements of 95 people in the case. The probe agency also claimed that Mondal used to provide a safe corridor for the smugglers.

On August 31, the CBI conducted a raid on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor's residence in Bolpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal in connection with the cattle smuggling case. The CBI later arrested the TMC leader and kept him in custody.

Anubrata Mondal's name came up in the cattle smuggling scam case after the CBI registered an FIR in 2020. According to the CBI, between 2015 and 2017, over 20,000 cattle heads had been seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) as they were being smuggled across the border.