CBI asks TMC leader Anubrata Mondal to appear in connection with cattle smuggling case

New Delhi, Aug 05: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday sent a notice to Trinamool Congress's (TMC) Birbhum district chief Anubrata Mondal, who is known to be a close aide of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, for interrogation in connection with a cattle smuggling case.

The central agency has asked him to appear in the CBI office at Nizam's Palace in Kolkata on August 8, sources informed news agency ANI.

The CBI on Wednesday conducted raids at six different locations in West Bengal's Birbhum district in connection with its investigation into the cattle smuggling scam.

The CBI personnel, divided into six team, raided residences of local Trinamool Congress leaders, including Kerim Khan and his close associate Ziaul Haque, at Illambazar and Nanoor.

Sleuths of the central agency also conducted raids at the house of stone merchant Tudu Mondal, an aide of TMC's Birbhum president Anubrata Mondal, officials said.

Mondal had earlier appeared twice before CBI detectives for questioning. His personal bodyguard has also been arrested as part of the probe.

The CBI on September 21, 2020, had arrested a former Border Security Force (BSF) commandant, in connection with illegal cattle smuggling across the Indo-Bangladesh border.

Anubrata Mondal's name came under the scanner during the investigation of the case.

The latest development comes in te backdrop of a bitter BJP-TMC fight over case being investigated by central agencies.