'Consider Tihar...', ED Responds As Anubrata Mondal Seeks Transfer To Asansol Jail

In connection with the cow smuggling case, the Delhi Court on Monday extended Mamata Banerjee's 'Bahubali' leader Anubrata Mondal's judicial custody until May 4.

Cow Smuggling Case: Tihar Jail inmate and main accused in the cow smuggling case, Anubrata Mondal, submitted a request to be transferred to Asansol Jail. Strongly objecting to that, the ED informed Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Monday that it will take six months to extradite Anubrata back to Delhi for the cow smuggling case after he was detained in Asansol. "Now consider Tihar Jail to be your home for the next three to four years," ED attorney Nitesh Rana said in court yesterday. The ED further inquired as to Anubrata's motivations for relocating from Tihar to the West Bengal government's Asansol prison.

After Anubrata, the ED detained his daughter, Sukanya Mondal, as part of the investigation into cow smuggling. Anubrata spoke up about it at Rouse Avenue Court. He said, "It was unfair to arrest her." Currently, both the father and daughter are detained at Tihar Jail. Sources claim that Sukanya spoke to Anubrata on the phone while in jail, with the authorities' approval. Sukanya also spoke with Sehgal Hossain, Anubrata's bodyguard, who was detained in Tihar in connection with the cow smuggling case.

The Trinomool Congress' (TMC) Birbhum district president filed a request for his transfer to Asansol Correctional Home (West Bengal) in March before Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court. At the conclusion of his judicial custody earlier on Monday, the TMC leader was produced in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court. Wheelchair-bound Anubrata was transported to court while sporting a white t-shirt from the jail. After hearing the arguments made by the defense attorneys and special public prosecutor (SPP) Nitesh Rana, special judge Raghubeer Singh granted him three days' custody. The Rouse Avenue Court extended Anubrata's remand till May 4. However, the accused was allowed to meet with the attorneys while in ED custody. Additionally, it instructed the ED to arrange for the medical examination of the accused within 48-hours.

Earlier on April 27, the Rouse Avenue Court granted three days' custody of Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Anubrata, to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to interrogate her in the cattle smuggling case. In order to determine the modus operandi, track the money trail, and find the proceeds of the crime, the ED requested a three-day remand. She was also going to be questioned about the crime while sitting alongside her father and TMC strongman Anubarata. Sukanya Mondal was detained on the evening of April 26. Anubrata, the 'Bahubali' leader of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was detained by the CBI in July of last year in connection with a cattle smuggling case.