Mamata aide’s arrest exposes a murky cattle scam in Bengal

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The
CBI
said
that
the
cattle
were
smuggled
from
India
to
Bangladesh
after
paying
illegal
gratification
to
BSF
personnel
manning
the
international
border.

New
Delhi,
Aug
11:
The
Central
Bureau
of
Investigation
(CBI)
today
arrested
West
Bengal
Chief
Minister
Mamata
Banerjee’s
close
aide
Anubrata
Mondal
in
connection
with
a
2020
cattle
smuggling
case.
Mondal
is
the
TMC’s
Birbhum
district
president.

Mondal
had
earlier
been
questioned
by
the
CBI
twice
as
part
of
its
investigation
into
the
cattle
smuggling
case.

The
cattle
smuggling
scam
is
a
huge
one.
It
is
alleged
that
the
cattle
shown
as
seized
at
the
Indo-Bangladesh
border
were
undervalued
and
auctioned
with
the
help
of
some
Customs
officers
so
that
cow
traders
could
buy
them
back
at
a
very
low
cost.
Following
this
they
would
legally
sell
it
again
to
their
counterparts
in
Bangladesh.

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

The
prime
suspects
in
the
scam
are
three
cow
traders
from
Bengal,
Muhammad
Enamul
Haque,
Anarul
Sheikh
and
Muhammad
Gulam
Mustafa.
Haque
was
arrested
by
the
CBI
in
November
2020.
He
was
released
on
bail
13
months
after
he
was
arrested
in
Delhi.
He
was
later
on
arrested
by
the
Enforcement
Directorate
(ED)
as
well.

On
August
8
the
CBI
filed
its
third
chargesheet
in
the
cattle
smuggling
case
at
a
court
in
Asansol
against
Vikash
Mishra,
Abdul
Latif
and
Sehgal
Hossain.
Latif
is
missing
currently.
Hossain
was
a
police
constable
with
the
Bengal
police
who
was
deployed
by
the
government
as
a
bodyguard
for
Mondal.
He
has
been
accused
of
accepting
money
from
several
people
on
Mondal’s
behalf.

In
its
41-page
supplementary
chargesheet,
the
CBI
says
that
as
many
as
59
properties
and
businesses
including
stone
crushing
units,
brick
kilns,
four
apartments
and
petrol
bunks
are
registered
in
the
names
of
Sehgal’s
family.

Last
week
the
CBI
raided
13
different
locations
in
Kolkata
and
Birbhum
in
connection
with
the
same
case.

The
CBI
teams
carried
out
searches
at
the
premises
of
local
TMC
leaders,
including
Md
Nazzibuddin
alias
Tulu
Mondal,
Abdul
Karim
Khan,
and
Jiyaula
Haque
Sekh
alias
Mukto,
in
Illambazar
and
Nanoor
area,
they
said.
Mondal
is
considered
an
aide
of
TMC’s
Birbhum
president
Anubrata
Mondal,
they
said.

TMC
Birbhum
president
Anubrata
Mondal
to
be
under
strict
EC
surveillance
from
5
pm
till
Fri
7
am:
Official

The
CBI
said
that
the
cattle
were
smuggled
from
India
to
Bangladesh
after
paying
illegal
gratification
to
BSF
personnel
manning
the
international
border.

The
smugglers
named
in
the
case
paid
money
to
accused
officials.
Customs
officials
also
used
to
take
a
bribe
of
10
per
cent
of
the
auction
price
from
successful
bidders
named
in
the
case.
Bhuvan
Bhaskar,
son
of
the
BSF
officer,
was
employed
in
Haque
Industries
Pvt
Ltd,
a
company
promoted
by
Haque.

Bhuvan
was
paid
Rs
30,000
to
Rs
40,000
as
salary
per
month
between
May
2017
and
December
2017,
which
reflects
his
links
with
the
cattle
smuggling
racket,
the
FIR
filed
by
the
CBI
said.