ED approaches Calcutta HC to get custody of Anubrata Mandal’s bodyguard

Kolkata, Oct 9 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday approached the Calcutta High Court to get the custody of Sehgal Hossain, bodyguard of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mandal, and take him to New Delhi for interrogation in the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam in West Bengal.

The decision to approach the high court was taken after a special vacation court at Asansol in West Burdwan district of West Bengal on October 7 rejected the ED’s plea on grounds of technical error and time constraints.

The ED sleuths said that they were at such a stage in the probe on cattle smuggling scam that further interrogation of Hossain, who is constantly trying to mislead the central agency sleuths, has become extremely important.

“Cracking him through interrogations for a limited period in judicial custody is not enough and hence it has become extremely urgent to take him along with us to New Delhi and interrogate him there. That is why instead of waiting for the full-fledged operations to resume at Asansol court after the festival days are over, we have decided to file a petition on this count at a special vacation court of the Calcutta High Court,” an ED official said. The hearing in the matter might come up any day.

On October 7, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel probe in the cattle smuggling scam, filed a fresh charge sheet. In the charge sheet Anubrata Mandal’s name has appeared for the first time as the beneficiary of the scam. The CBI has also underlined details of the huge assets and property of Mondal and his family members in the charge sheet.

–IANS

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