ED conducts raids in cattle smuggling case in Bengal

Kolkata, Aug 3 (IANS) Other than its ongoing probe into the multi-crore teacher recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also focusing on the cattle smuggling case in the state.

Since Wednesday morning, two teams of ED raided several places in Birbhum district in connection with the cattle smuggling case.

The ED teams raided several places in Bolpur-Santiniketan as well as Birbhum district headquarters, Suri. Incidentally, Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president and party strongman Anubrata Mondal is already under ED scanner and has been interrogated in connection with the cattle smuggling case.

The ED sleuths raided the residence of local Trinamool leader and PWD in-charge of Birbhum Zila Parishad, Kerim Khan, as well as the residence of a local stone-quarry owner, Tudu Mondal.

Kerim Khan is an accused in the case who’s also under the radar of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) because of his alleged involvement in a post-poll violence case in Bengal, in which Anubrata Mondal has also been questioned by the CBI sleuths.

The ED sleuths also went to the residence of local Trinamool leader and owner of a rice-mill, Mukti Sheikh. All the three persons, whose houses were raided by the ED sleuths, are known to be close to Anubrata Mondal.

Meanwhile, a third team of ED conducted search operations at a Bolpur-based mansion named ‘APA’, whose owner is WBSSC scam-tainted Partha Chatterjee’s close associate, Arpita Mukherjee.

The land for the house was purchased jointly in 2012 by Partha Chatterjee and Arpita Mukherjee for Rs 20 lakh. However, after the construction of the house, the mutation of the same mentioned only Arpita Mukherjee as the owner. The search operations are still on.

–IANS

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