Anubrata Mondal Case: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (December 4) rejected the bail application of TMC leader Anubrata Mondal in the alleged cattle smuggling case.
Anubrata Mandal’s lawyer Kapil Sibal argued in the court that he has been in prison for more than four months, while BSF officer Satish Kumar, the main accused in the cattle smuggling case, got bail only after 33 days. On the other hand, DP Singh, who is representing the CBI, rejected it and said that Mandal can influence the witnesses.
What is the claim of CBI?
The CBI opposed the bail application saying that releasing the petitioner on bail may derail the investigation in the cattle smuggling case as he (Mandal) may try to influence the witnesses. A division bench of Justice Jaymalya Bagchi and Justice AK Gupta rejected the bail application saying that the court is not in favor of accepting the application at this stage.
What allegation?
The CBI alleges that using political influence, Mandal has been playing the role of a key facilitator in the unhindered smuggling of cattle into Bangladesh via Birbhum district. Mandal’s counsel argued that no such evidence has been found. Mandal is the Birbhum district president of the ruling TMC in West Bengal. CBI caught Anubrata Mandal in August 2022 in the animal smuggling case. During this, the CBI had alleged that he was not cooperating in the investigation. Earlier, raids were conducted at 13 locations of Mandal’s close aides in Kolkata and Birbhum.
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