Bengal Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal hospitalised

Kolkata, April 6 : West Bengal ruling Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal, who was summoned by the CBI in the cattle smuggling case to appear at the Nizam Palace at 11 am, was on Wednesday admitted to the government owned SSKM hospital in the city, official sources said. Mondal was suffering from chest pain and gastroenteritis complications. He was admitted to the Woodburn ward and a medical team was being prepared to check up his health, sources said. The CBI on Saturday summoned (4th time) Mondal to appear before its anti-corruption officials at Nizam Palace on March 6 in relation to the cattle smuggling case. Mondal, who has skipped the CBI summons three times already, reached this city on Tuesday evening and stayed at his city home overnight. It was not known immediately if the TMC strongman of the Birbhum district would appear before the CBI officials during the day. Earlier, he skipped thrice the CBI summons with various pleas like Covid-19 situation, unwell and busy in the election campaign etc. A division bench of Calcutta High Court recently upheld its single bench order, which refused to grant him protection from arrest or quiz in the cattle smuggling case, which is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The division bench headed by chief justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj orally observed that there was no error in the order of the single bench. In the single bench justice Rajasekhar Mantha had dismissed the plea of Mondal after noting that he had travelled outside Bolpur on several occasions and that his aliments as examined by the Medical Board are not that serious that would require confinement to his home. On March 11, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha had observed that the facts of the case did not warrant interference by the court and had dismissed Mondal’s petition seeking protection from any coercive action by the CBI. Challenging this order, the TMC leader moved the division bench of the high court. PC SJC BM