Asansol(WB), Sep 7 : West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal’s judicial remand was extended by 14 days on Wednesday by a special CBI court in Asansol in an alleged cross border cattle smuggling case.
Judge Rajesh Chakraborty rejected the bail petition moved by Mondal’s counsel and ordered that he be kept in judicial remand till September 21.
Earlier, Mondal’s lawyer pleaded for bail citing the leader’s “poor’ health condition”.
However, the lawyers for the CBI moved a counter-petition opposing granting of bail to the “controversial leader” arguing he was “very powerful and influential” and a prime suspect in the cattle trafficking case.
Mondal was present in the court.
Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president Mondal was arrested on August 11 by the CBI in connection with the alleged smuggling of cattle across the international border to Bangladesh.
He has been lodged in the Asansol Correctional home for the past two weeks.
The CBI during the week also quizzed Mondal’s accountant, Manish Kothari about the bank details of his daughter Sukanya.
Officials of several state-owned banks in Suri and Bolpur were summoned to the Nizam Palace on Monday.
According to sources, the bank account details of the Trinamool leader’s close associates were scrutinised, after many assets were found after questioning Anubrata Mondal’s accountant.
A Kolkata report said TMC’s Bijpur MLA Subodh Adhikari, who was summoned by the CBI on Wednesday at its city office, skipped the summon for the second successive day.
The CBI had searched Adhikari’s houses at several places in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday, barely two days after Halisahar Municipality chairman Raju Sahani was arrested in an alleged ponzi scam case.
Adhikari”s lawyers had requested the CBi that their client needed some two weeks time for appearance. However the CBI summoned Adhikari on Wednesday, and he did not turn up, sources said.
