TMC's Anubrata hospitalised, fails to appear before CBI again

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal failed to appear before the CBI for the fifth time in connection with a cattle smuggling case, as he was admitted to a state-run hospital here on Wednesday following chest pain, but said he is ready to face questions from there.Seeking four months time from the agency to face questioning, Mondal said its sleuths can visit him in the hospital for the purpose, subject to clearance by doctors.Mondal, who was asked to appear before the central agency in its Kolkata office at 11 am, went to the SSKM Hospital around the same time.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal failed to appear before the CBI for the fifth time in connection with a cattle smuggling case, as he was admitted to a state-run hospital here on Wednesday following ''chest pain'', but said he is ready to face questions from there.

Seeking four months' time from the agency to face questioning, Mondal said its sleuths can visit him in the hospital for the purpose, subject to clearance by doctors.

Mondal, who was asked to appear before the central agency in its Kolkata office at 11 am, went to the SSKM Hospital around the same time. The TMC Birbhum district president underwent a series of medical examinations before he was admitted there, a hospital official told PTI.

''I humbly request you to dispense with my presence in your office for a period of at least four weeks from date, alternatively you can visit me in SSKM Hospital for the purpose of putting questions in connection with the said case subject to certification by the concerned doctors,'' Mondal wrote to CBI officer Sushanta Bhattacharya. Citing health problems, Mondal had earlier skipped meeting CBI officers four times following summonses issued to him in connection with the investigation into the cattle smuggling case. The CBI summoned Mondal after a division bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld a single bench order, which refused to grant him protection from arrest in the cattle smuggling case. The heavyweight leader of the ruling party reached Kolkata from Bolpur in Birbhum district on Tuesday night amid speculation that he would appear before the agency for the first time.

He said in the letter that ''considering the paramount interest of the investigation'', he had decided to present himself before the CBI but his health condition deteriorated all of a sudden on Wednesday morning.

''I started to suffer from sudden numbness coupled with a feeling of fullness in the centre of the chest, shortness of breath, cold sweat and lightheadedness for which I have been rushed to SSKM Hospital where doctors advised immediate hospitalisation,'' the letter read.

According to a senior official at the SSKM Hospital, the tests conducted on Mondal showed symptoms of heart failure following which they put him on Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).

An eight-member team of senior doctors was formed to supervise Mondal's health condition. Meanwhile, senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh took a jibe at Mondal for not appearing before the CBI and getting admitted to the hospital.

Ghosh said TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had faced central agencies despite the BJP allegedly using the agency to pursue its vendetta politics.

''As it's a legal matter, I can't comment on why he (Mondal) didn't face the CBI and got admitted to a hospital. It is for the doctors to comment on his health condition. But I would like to say that I had never skipped whenever the CBI or ED had summoned me. As I have committed no wrong, I had no fear,'' he said.

Except Ghosh, most of the TMC leaders declined to comment on the issue.

State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said it was a ''foregone'' conclusion that Mondal would get admitted to the hospital.

The saffron party's state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said the people are seeing how a person who terrorised the entire Birbhum district is now afraid of facing the CBI.

CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim said that the investigating agency must ensure that Mondal does not escape the clutches of law.