'Give Bail To TMC's Anubrata Mondal, Or Else...': Bengal Special CBI Judge Gets Threat Letter

Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11 from his residence at Bolpur in connection with a cattle smuggling case.

Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11 ( Image Source :PTI )

A special CBI court judge in Bengal has claimed that he received a letter threatenting to implicate his family members in a false drugs case if he did not grant bail to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, who is in CBI custody in connection with a multi-crore cattle smuggling case, ANI reported.

Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the CBI on August 11 from his residence at Bolpur. CBI has also confiscated bank fixed deposits worth Rs 16.97 crore in the name of Mondal. 

Asansol special CBI court judge Rajesh Chakraborty alleged that he received the threat letter, signed by one Bappa Chattopadhyay, stating that if Mondal was not released on bail, his family would be implicated in an NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) case with commercial quantity.

Justice Chakraborty received the threat letter on August 20, IANS reported. He informed about the letter to the district judge, who then apprised the Calcutta High Court about the matter.

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In fact, threatening people to be booked under narcotics case had been an old habit of Mondal as the TMC's Birbhum district president. A video went viral a few years ago wherein Mondal was seen directing a senior police office to book one woman BJP supporter in a narcotics case, IANS reported.

Mondal's CBI custody ends on Wednesday and he will be produced before the court. Last week, the court had rejected Mondal's bail, which his lawyer had sought on medical grounds, and extended his CBI custody till August 24. 

The CBI had opposed the bail plea and argued that if Mondal, being a highly influential person, was granted bail, there was every possibility that he might attempt to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses.

Meanwhile, CBI along with officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) on Monday raided a rice mill in Birbhum district allegedly owned by Mondal's nephew, who is also a local Trinamool Congress leader, PTI reported.

"Though the rice mill is defunct, we believe links with it and the cattle scam can be found during the investigation process. We are trying to find out whether this mill was run on the money gotten from cattle smuggling," a CBI official said.

The officials seized a few documents from the rice mill. 

They also raided a flat belonging to Mondal's arrested bodyguard Saigal Hossain.

There are at least 10-11 rice mills, allegedly owned by Mondal, which are under the CBI scanner as part of its probe into the cattle smuggling case.