Who is Anubrata Mondal, Mamata Banerjee's strongman, arrested in cattle smuggling case?

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal has been arrested by the CBI on Thursday in the cattle smuggling case in West Bengal. The arrest comes a day after the TMC Birbhum district president skipped the probe agency's summons for the tenth time on Wednesday (10 August) on health grounds.

The TMC strongman was arrested today morning after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) raided his house in connection with the cattle smuggling case.

Lawyers representing Mondal informed the CBI on Wednesday that he needed a fortnight’s time before appearing for questioning. The Telegraph quoted its sources close to Mondal saying that he was planning to move the Supreme Court to seek immunity from arrest.

Following the arrest, Mondal will be quizzed for his alleged involvement in the West Bengal cattle smuggling case. CBI will also interrogate the TMC leader on the basis of inputs collected by them so far during the raids in parts of Birbhum since last week and from his bodyguard Saigal Hossain.

Who is Anubrata Mondal?

Anubrata Mondal hails from a family of farmers and is one of TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's most trusted aides in Birbhum, helping the party consolidate its position in the district.

Known for making provocative speeches, Mondal is even infamous to have threatened police with dire consequences if they did not follow his instructions.

Mondal's favoured position is reflected by the fact that he openly directed Trinamool workers to hurl bombs at houses of independent candidates during the 2013 panchayat elections, but faced no flak from the party for the same. In fact, he popularised the political slogan Khela hobe which dominated the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections which saw TMC defeat the BJP.

The political leader, who is affectionately called Kesto Da by his party people is usually the de facto decision maker for TMC activities in Birbhum.

Interestingly, despite his political clout, Mondal has never contested any election. He prefers to act as the kingmaker, preferring to manage the party from behind the scenes. Such is his power that during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and 2016 and 2021 Assembly elections, the Election Commission kept him under strict surveillance following complaints that he might try to influence the election process.

What is cattle smuggling case and why CBI has arrested Anubrata Mondal?

Mondal ducked summon notices by the CBI citing preoccupation or illness and was warned of "strong action" if he did not turn up for this summon. He has been questioned twice so far.

The West Bengal cattle smuggling case was registered in 2018 after JD Mathew, who served as BSF commandant in the state, was booked in Kerala.

It is alleged that 'seized by the BSF' cattle at the Indo-Bangladesh border were auctioned with the help of some Customs officers after being undervalued so that cow traders could buy them back for cheap and legally sell them to their counterparts in Bangladesh.

There was alleged collusion of BSF officials, politicians, excise personnel, and racketeers involved in the smuggling of cattle from Bangladesh.

Raids were carried out by CBI in 15 cities and towns in West Bengal as well as Uttar Pradesh. Properties belonging to Satish Kumar – a commandant in the South Bengal Frontier of the BSF in 2016 and 2017 – were sealed. He was arrested in 2020.

Mondal's name appeared after the CBI arrested Kumar for his alleged involvement in the case.

Three West Bengal-based cow traders – Muhammad Enamul Haque, Anarul Sheikh and Muhammad Gulam Mustafa – are the prime suspects in the case. Haque was arrested from Delhi in November 2020, but was released on bail after spending 13 months in judicial custody.

CBI arrested Mondal's personal bodyguard Saigal Hossain in June after a prolonged interrogation related to cattle smuggling case. The probe agency official said that Hossain could not provide any satisfactory explanation for the huge assets he owned.

An officer told news agency PTI, "He (Hossain) gets a fixed salary each month. We found disparities in Hossain’s versions."

After Hossain's arrest, BJP leader Keya Ghosh said apart from owning two houses in Murshidabad, Mondol's bodyguard has three flats in Kolkata, and an astounding amount of gold among other assets. Hossain is a constable with Bengal Police.

With inputs from agencies

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