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Illegal Cattle Smuggling
A class 12 student was allegedly chased in a car and shot dead on August 23 by a group of five cow vigilantes who mistook the boy for a cattle smuggler, police here said on Tuesday. All the five accused -- Saurabh, Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna and Adesh -- have been arrested, the police said. During interrogation, the accused revealed that on the night of August 23, they had received information that some suspected cattle smugglers driving two SUVs were doing recce in the city. They mistook the victim, Aryan Mishra, and his friends, Shanky and Harshit, for those cattle smugglers and followed their car for about 30 kilometres near the Gadhpuri toll on the Delhi-Agra National Highway, a senior police officer said. The accused told the police that when they asked the victim's car to be stopped, the driver accelerated, following which they opened fire and Mishra was shot dead near the Gadhpuri toll in Palwal, the police officer said. All the accused have been sent to judicial custody
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday indicated that the onus of stopping the smuggling of coal and cattle lies with the central government as its agencies are responsible for producing and safekeeping of the dry fuel and guarding the international border. "Coal India Limited (CIL) is run by the Centre. Coal mines are guarded by CISF, which is a central force. The border is also guarded by the BSF," Banerjee said, implying that the onus of illegal mining and smuggling lay with the central government. Addressing a party programme at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, she also alleged that those "big leaders" who are involved in cattle and coal smuggling are "sitting elsewhere". The TMC boss, however, did not name any individual or political party. The Trinamool Congress supremo's assertion came at a time when several party leaders are being accused of being involved in the smuggling of coal and cattle. Abhishek Banerjee, her nephew and considered number 2 in the .
A Delhi court on Wednesday sent TMC leader Anubrata Mondal to ED custody till March 10 in an alleged money laundering case related to West Bengal cattle smuggling case. The midnight court passed the order on a plea moved by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which sought his 14-day custody and said the accused was required to be quizzed. Special Judge Rakesh Kumar directed the agency, represented by Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, to produce the accused on March 10 before the regular court. The ED on Tuesday got custody of arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mondal after doctors at Joka-ESI Hospital in West Bengal found him fit to travel to New Delhi. ED officials took Mondal straightaway to the city airport under tight security of central forces to catch a flight to the national capital, the agency said. Mondal, the TMC's Birbhum district president and a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was earlier arrested by the CBI in connection with the rel
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the daughter of arrested TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, and his chartered accountant to its Delhi office on November 2 for their questioning in connection with the agency's probe into cattle smuggling in Bengal. The two might be questioned together by ED detectives, an agency official said on Friday. "We have asked Anubrata Mondal's daughter Sukanya Mondal and his CA Manish Kothari to appear at our New Delhi office next Wednesday. We have plans to question them together," he said. Sukanya Mondal, who owns two firms, will be asked about the "huge wealth that she amassed in a short time", the official said. "Kothari has been told to bring with him all documents related to Anubrata Mondal's properties, his income and savings in different bank accounts," the ED official stated. According to sources in the ED, Sukanya Mondal was earlier, too, sent summons for appearance at the Delhi office on October 27, but she skipped the session. Her lawye
A special CBI court on Wednesday remanded Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal to 14 days in judicial custody. Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11 in connection with its probe into the alleged cattle smuggling to Bangladesh. Rejecting the bail plea of Mondal, Asansol special CBI court judge Rajesh Chakraborty remanded him to judicial custody till September 7. He will be produced before the court again on that day. The court also allowed the agency's prayer for questioning Mondal in the correctional home. The TMC leader's lawyer prayed for his bail, claiming that there is no connection between him and the alleged smuggling of cattle through Birbhum district. It was also stated by his lawyer that Mondal is 65 years old and suffers from various ailments. The CBI counsel, opposing the bail plea of Mondal, sought his judicial remand, claiming that he is an influential person and may try to influence witnesses in the case. The TMC Birbhum district president was in CBI cus
Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal on Wednesday said he wanted a CBI probe into a threat letter against a judge of Asansol special CBI court who is hearing the alleged cattle smuggling case against him. Asansol special CBI court judge Rajesh Chakraborty wrote to Paschim Bardhaman district judge on Monday requesting him to take note of the "threat" and bring it to the notice of the Registrar, Judicial Service, of the Calcutta High Court. "I want to request the judge to order a CBI investigation into it," Mondal said in reply to questions by reporters about the threat letter while he was being taken to the Asansol special CBI court for production. A letter threatening to implicate his family members in NDPS case of commercial quantity if Mondal is not released on bail soon was sent to the officer-in-charge of the court, judge Chakraborty wrote to the district judge. Asked whether he is hopeful to get bail, the TMC Birbhum district president said it is for the court to ...
A special CBI court here on Saturday rejected Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal's bail plea in the alleged cattle smuggling scam and extended his custody with the central agency for four days till August 24. Describing Mondal as a "very powerful and highly influential person", the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) appealed for an extension of the TMC leader's custody stating that he could "influence witnesses and tamper evidence if granted bail". The CBI lawyer said that Mondal has been "non-cooperative from the very beginning despite being issued summonses 10 times. The counsel also claimed that Mondal had pressurised a doctor to prescribe "complete rest". Mondal was arrested on August 11 by the CBI in connection with its investigation into the alleged cattle smuggling scam.
The CBI on Saturday conducted a raid at one rice mill here allegedly owned by arrested Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal as a part of its ongoing probe into the alleged cattle smuggling scam, a senior officer said. During the raid, the CBI sleuths found several high-end vehicles parked inside the premises of the mill, he said, adding that the ownership of the vehicles is "being looked into". Asked why the rice mill here in Birbhum district was raided, the officer said that the agency was trying to find out how the Trinamool Congress' Birbhum district president got the money to purchase it. "The rice mill was purchased by Mr Mondal in 2017. The rice mill has been mentioned as the address of several other offices belonging to him, his daughter and his late wife. We are trying to find out certain other things which may have links to the cattle scam," the officer told PTI. The CBI sleuths, who were made to wait outside the rice mill for over half an hour by the security guards,
The CBI has frozen fixed deposits worth Rs 16.97 crore allegedly belonging to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal and his family members in connection with a case of cattle smuggling across Indo-Bangladesh boder, officials said Wednesday. The agency detected the fixed deposits during its continuing probe in the case, they said. The CBI on Wednesday visited Mondal's Nichupatti residence in Bolpur to question his daughter but left within 10 minutes after Sukanya refused to talk to them. The agency had arrested Mondal last Thursday from his residence after he skipped his scheduled appearance before the central probe agency twice in three days, an official said. The CBI has alleged that Vikas Mishra, brother of absconding TMC leader Vinay Mishra, and Mondal provided protection to associates of alleged cattle smuggler Enamul Haq who used to buy animals at a market in Ilambazar, the officials said. The smugglers used to ferry animals from Ilambazar to Indo-Bangla border under the alleged protect