The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the CBI on a bail plea of Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal, who got arrested in connection with alleged cattle smuggling case.
A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi issued notice to the agency and sought its reply on the plea.
Previously in January, the Calcutta High Court rejected Mondal’s bail plea.
Mondal, who is the Birbhum district president of the ruling TMC in West Bengal, prayed for bail, submitting that he has been in custody for over 145 days in connection with the case.
CBI opposed the prayer, claiming that he may derail the investigation into the cattle smuggling case by trying to influence witnesses being probed by it.
Therefore, CBI claimed that Mondal, using his political clout, was the main facilitator for smooth transportation of cattle through Birbhum district for smuggling them to Bangladesh.
The counsel for Mondal stated that no such evidence has been found.
