Cattle smuggling: Delhi court denies bail to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal’s ex-bodyguard

The judge noted that the accused was denied bail by another court in West Bengal in the related corruption case lodged by the CBI, observing that there was no trustworthy explanation as yet from Hossain regarding the manner of accumulation of disproportionate wealth by him or his relatives.

A Delhi court has denied bail to Sehegal Hossain, the former bodyguard of TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, in a money laundering case related to West Bengal cattle smuggling. The judge noted that the accused was denied bail by another court in West Bengal in the related corruption case lodged by the CBI, observing that there was no trustworthy explanation as yet from Hossain regarding the manner of accumulation of disproportionate wealth by him or his relatives. The court in West Bengal had said that Hossain's role as a body guard of another influential accused of the case was still under investigation and new information was regularly getting unearthed and worked upon with significant outcome. ''The observations so made by the Special Judge, CBI are also relevant in the present context as the ED case had been lodged on the basis of the CBI case/scheduled offence. Thus it becomes clear that in the light of the facts and material on record, the bail application in hand deserves dismissal,'' Special Judge Raghubir Singh said in an order passed on February 6.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), represented by Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, had opposed the bail application, saying the accused and his family members purchased 59 immovable properties during the period 2015 to 2022. The accused, a constable in West Bengal Police, despite being a public servant did not give any intimation thereof to his department. Heavy vehicles were also purchased in the name of his wife who is a school teacher in 2015, it said.

The prosecution claimed that the accused and his family had purchased immovable properties worth Rs 4.1 crore since 2015 and their total assets and expenditure come to the tune of Rs 5.47 crore against the total income earned by the entire family from all sources to the tune of Rs 1.04 crore. Thus, the family of the accused/applicant was in possession of 'disproportionate assets' to the tune of Rs 4.43 crore, it alleged. The accused had sought bail on the ground that he was the sole bread earner of his family.

He claimed that the charge sheet has already been filed in the case and that no purpose would be served by keeping him in further custody.

The accused was arrested by the agency in the present case on October 7, 2022 while he was already in judicial custody in the corruption case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the matter in West Bengal. The case was lodged by the ED on the basis of the CBI case of cattle smuggling through the international border of India-Bangladesh. The ED alleged that smuggling generated huge money which was allegedly laundered and it has been roughly quantified to be to the tune of Rs 25 crore.

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