KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the Calcutta high court to grant it custody of Sehgal Hossain, the former bodyguard of Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Anubrata Mondal named as a prime accused in the cattle smuggling case. ED said it needed to take Hossain to Delhi for interrogation, an official of the federal investigating agency said.
Hossain, who was arrested by CBI on June 10 and named as a prime accused in the agency’s third charge sheet filed on August 8, is lodged in the Asansol correctional home in West Burdwan district along with Abubrata Mondal. Hossain’s wife was earlier summoned to Delhi by ED for questioning but she did not turn up.
Hossain, a West Bengal police constable, was deployed by the state government as one of Mondal’s bodyguards. Mondal was arrested on August 11.
A three-member ED team from Delhi arrested Hossain on October 7 after interrogating him for four hours at the correctional home. ED requested the Asansol special court for permission to take Hossain to Delhi for interrogation but the application was denied.
“ED moved the registrar of the Calcutta high court on Sunday, seeking a hearing by the division bench of the chief justice. The special hearing was allowed on Sunday. The petition will be heard by a single-judge vacation bench on Tuesday,” an ED official said on condition of anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“ED moved the registrar of the Calcutta high court on Sunday, seeking a hearing by the division bench of the chief justice. The special hearing was allowed on Sunday. The petition will be heard by a single-judge vacation bench on Tuesday,” an ED official said on condition of anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}Hossain and Mondal have been interrogated at the Asansol correctional home by CBI officials on multiple occasions over the last two months.
CBI officials said neither of them was forthcoming with information and did not answer most questions pertaining to cattle smuggling in which thousands of cows seized from smugglers at the India-Bangladesh border were allegedly auctioned back to the people seeking to smuggle them out.
In its 35-page charge sheet on October 7, CBI said Mondal not only facilitated the cattle smuggling operation but also financially benefitted from it. CBI also cited several bank accounts, in which ₹18 crore was kept in fixed deposit accounts, and over 160 land and property registration deeds. The charge sheet said at least two dozen of these properties belong to Mondal while the rest are owned by his relatives and aides such as Hossain.
Mondal, who is the Birbhum district unit president of the ruling party, lived in Bolpur town where some properties are owned by Hossain, CBI alleged.