Cattle smuggling: CBI conducts raids in Kolkata, Birbhum

The CBI said cattle were undervalued and auctioned with the help of some customs officers to allow traders to buy them at very low prices and sell them in Bangladesh

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said it recovered around ₹17 lakh and items such as hard disks and pen drives during raids at over a dozen places in Kolkata and Birbhum district in connection a cattle smuggling case in West Bengal. An official said the agency also recovered several incriminating documents and locker keys.

The raids were conducted at over a dozen places in Kolkata and Birbhum districts. (HT PHOTO)

The premises of Abdul Karim Khan, a local leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) known to be close to Anubrata Mondol, the party’s Birbhum chief, were among those raided.

In its First Information Report (FIR) in the case, CBI said cattle were undervalued and auctioned with the help of some customs officers to allow traders to buy them at very low prices and sell them in Bangladesh. Part of the sale proceeds allegedly went to some TMC leaders and government officers.

Mohammad Enamul Haque, the main accused in the case, was arrested from New Delhi in 2020. Sehgal Hossain, a body guard of Mondol, was arrested from Kolkata on June 9 after he was summoned and questioned for hours as a witness.

Mondol is considered to be a close to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. He is the only district president to be inducted into the TMC’s national working committee. CBI questioned Mondal in Kolkata first on May 19 after he avoided the agency’s summons for 13 months.

Several state police, Border Security Force (BSF) and Customs department officers are suspects in the case. Two BSF and a state police officer have also been arrested in the case.