Security personnel outside the CBI’s Nizam Palace office in Kolkata on Wednesday. Partha Paul Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president and national executive committee member Anubrata Mondal on Wednesday got admitted to the SSKM Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata complaining of breathlessness, skipping the CBI’s summons for questioning in connection with a cattle smuggling case.
This was the fifth time that the CBI summoned Mondal, a TMC strongman, to its Nizam Palace office in the city. He was to reach there at 11am. A team of officials was waiting for him with a set of questionnaires related to the case, it is learnt.
Police personnel were deployed both at the agency office and the SSKM Hospital.
On March 11, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court had turned down Mondal’s plea seeking protection against arrest by the CBI during or after his interrogation. Mondal is incharge of TMC in Birbhum district where nine people were charred to death after several houses were set on fire in retaliation to the murder of Bhadu Sheikh, a party deputy pradhan.
The case is being probed by the CBI.
Mondal’s lawyer Anirban Guhathakurta said, “My elderly client is physically ill and the CBI is harassing him. The agency officials can come to the hospital to question him, if they want.”
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “I do not know what happened with Mondal. But I complied with the CBI whenever they called me. Even our leader Abhishek Banerjee went to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) headquarters to answer their questions and came back with his head held high.”
A doctor at the SSKM hospital said Mondal was given oxygen as he had difficulty breathing besides having chronic inflammatory lung problem, heart ailment and diabetes.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties — the BJP and the CPIM — slammed Mondal’s visit to hospital. Congress state president Adhir Chowdhury said, “We can see that Anubrata is scared of the CBI. Now, he is taking shelter in a hospital.”
BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said this was not new. “Every time the CBI summons him, he takes refuge in a hospital.”
Taking a jibe, CPIM state secretary Md Salim said, “The CBI office and the jails should be transferred to the SSKM hospital for questioning the accused TMC leaders.”
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