Setback to ED, Anubrata sent to police custody in assault case

On Tuesday, Mondal, who currently is in judicial custody in the cattle smuggling case, was produced in a lower court at Dubrajpur in Birbhum where the public prosecutor prayed for his 14-day police custody. The public prosecutor requested that in light of the fresh case related to attempt to murder, it was necessary to take Mondal in police custody as part of the investigation.

Mondal’s counsel, however, made no bail prayer on his behalf. His lawyer Moloy Mukherjee said, “A bail prayer was not moved since the development took place all of a sudden. We are trying to understand the gravity of the situation.”

He also informed that the production warrant of Mondal in the ED case is yet to reach the Asansol jail which was the reason why the state police could produce him in the lower court in the morning.

After a brief hearing, Mondal was remanded to police custody for seven days. The matter will now come up for hearing on December 27. Following the court order, Mondal was taken to the Dubrajpur police station where he will be kept till his remand is over.

Sources in the ED said they are exploring legal opinions to prepare their argument for the next hearing.

On Monday night, Shibthakur Mondal, a local panchayat leader of Trinamool Congress in Dubrajpur, filed a complaint against Anubrata at the local police station alleging attempt to murder.

According to him, Mondal almost choked him to death ahead of the 2021 Assembly elections during a meeting at the party’s Dubrajpur office. “He thought I was going to leave the party and join the Opposition. I could not muster the courage to lodge a complaint against him given his influence in the district. As he is presently in jail custody, I decided to file a formal complaint against him,” Shibthakur Mondal told reporters.

Based on the complaint, the police lodged an FIR against Anubrata under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (causing grievous hurt) and 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code.

After Shibthakur Mondal lodged a case against Anubrata, the Trinamool Congress district unit suspended him from the party.

The development triggered a war of words between political parties. BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh said, “This is like opening a new chapter in West Bengal politics where the accused in cattle smuggling case is being held by the state police so that he is not taken to Delhi for questioning. This is a dangerous trend. There is no respect for the rule of law and the judiciary.”

Senior CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “Why was the TMC leader not allowed to lodge a complaint against Anubrata Mondal for more than a year? Why all of a sudden the police became extra active to lodge the FIR and take him into custody? This is nothing but an attempt to keep Mondal in the state.”

Echoing similar words, Congress leader Koustav Bagchi said, “This will only harm the TMC. This is nothing but a scripted story. The police is being used to shield a politician like him.”

Dismissing the allegations, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, “It only happens with the TMC that if any district leader is accused in any crime, the police take action against him. It does not happen in a party like the CPM or the BJP. The police in Bengal do not spare anyone, including people from the ruling party…”