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ED arrests TMC leader in cattle smuggling case
According to an ED official, the agency is likely to move court so that they may take Mondal to Delhi for further questioning.
Kolkata: Heavyweight Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with multi-crore cattle smuggling scam on Thursday.
The federal agency questioned Mondal for more than five hours inside the Asansol jail, where he is presently lodged.
The TMC’s district president of Birbhum and known to be close to chief minister Mamata Banerjee was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the same case on July 11. He is now in judicial custody.
On Thursday a team of ED officials had come down from Delhi to question Mondol inside the jail. The grilling started from around 11 am. Mondal was questioned by the ED for the first time.
According to an ED official, the agency is likely to move court so that they may take Mondal to Delhi for further questioning. ED has already taken Mondal’s former bodyguard Sehgal Hossain to Delhi after arresting him. The central agency has also questioned Mondal’s daughter Sukanya at least thrice.
“Mondal was not cooperating and hence he was arrested on Thursday,” said an ED official.
Earlier the CBI claimed to have recovered properties worth several crores of rupees which Mondal had allegedly registered in the name of his daughter, family members and other close aides. The central agency suspects that the Birbhum strongman may have tried to route the proceeds of the scam through lottery prizes more than once.
“Central agencies are being used for political gains. It is a part of an ongoing investigation and hence we won’t comment. But we want that ED should complete its investigation at the earliest,” Santanu Sen, TMC MP, told the media.
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