Cattle Smuggling Case: CBI Summons WBSEDCL Engineer

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned the divisional engineer of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) in the cattle smuggling case.

NEW DELHI | Updated: 21 October, 2022 5:11 pm IST

TMC leader Anubrata Mondal is one of the key accused in the cattle smuggling case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday summoned the divisional engineer of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) in the cattle smuggling case.

Divisional engineer Parimal Sarkar had reached the central probe agency’s temporary camp at Ratan Kuthi.

One of the prominent names in the ruling Trinamool Congress, Anubrata Mondal, is one of the key suspects in the case. The TMC strongman who manages the party’s affairs in Birbhum district is already under custody.

The CBI suspects that Sarkar is in contact with Saigal Hossain, a former bodyguard of Mondal, as well as Mondal himself.

Meanwhile, in a major development, the Delhi high court gave the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to take Hossain to Delhi for questioning.

Earlier, Hossain’s lawyers approached the Delhi HC to challenge a similar order by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court. However, on Thursday, the Delhi high court upheld the same verdict.

The court also stated that he could be questioned twice a day with a time duration of one hour each.

According to the sources, preparations are being made to bring Hossain to Delhi from Asansol jail, where he is currently under custody.

The CBI arrested Hossain in June following doubts about his properties and his income as a personal security guard. Agencies have raised the issue of Hossain’s multiple foreign accounts and informed the court that this scam is a multi-state one.

The cattle smuggling came into the limelight through a CBI investigation in the West Bengal border area that stretches across 2,216 km.

Cattles that are priced at anything between ₹50,000 to ₹80,000 in Bangladesh are smuggled from India, whereas they are bought at a much lesser prices. Smugglers, racketeers, and also people having political linkages are under the CBI scanner in this case.