Cattle smuggling: Anubrata Mondal’s security guard held

Saigal Hossain was summoned to the CBI’s Salt Lake office for a round of interrogation and arrested after he reportedly failed to explain some documents

Anubrata Mondal

Kinsuk Basu   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |   10.06.22  : The CBI on Thursday arrested Saigal Hossain, the security guard of Birbhum Trinamul chief Anubrata Mondal, for alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling case.

Hossain was summoned to the CBI’s Salt Lake office in Calcutta for a round of interrogation and  arrested after he reportedly failed to explain some documents related to his acquisition of property and his links with a few of the accused in the cattle smuggling case, including Enamul Haque.

Officers said there were gross discrepancies in almost all his statements and he could not justify how he amassed his wealth. “We visited his house in Domkol, Murshidabad, earlier and collected several documents relating to his property. He could not clearly explain how he made some of his properties,” said a CBI officer.

Insiders in the central investigating agency said Enamul had earlier told them that he had to pay hefty sums to Hossain to use the Birbhum corridor for smuggling cattle.

Hossain, who lost his three-year-old daughter in a car accident in April, earlier faced a CBI interrogation when officers had asked him about places that Anubrata would visit between 2011 and 2019 across the district.

Investigating officers said Hossain holds the key to several unexplored facets of the cattle smuggling case courtesy his job as Anubrata’s security guard. Hossain would take several calls and be present at several meetings during the period when the cattle were smuggled in huge numbers across Birbhum, particularly between 2017-18.

“During our raid on his house in Domkol we questioned him and his wife for over 20 hours in two days. Several documents were also seized,” said the officer. “During his interrogation today (Thursday), Hossain’s replies were not in sync with what he had told us earlier,” said a CBI source.

The CBI has already interrogated Anubrata on two occasions. Officers said Thursday's arrest of Hossain would help them equip them with more information before they question Anubrata again.