Amid a grand reception from supporters, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal on Tuesday returned to his home in Bolpur town in Birbhum district with his daughter, Sukanya, after both were granted bail by the courts in Delhi in cases related to cattle smuggling probed by the CBI and ED.
While Mondal was released from Tihar Jail on Monday night, Sukanya was out on bail a week ago.
When asked by mediapersons whether he would meet TMC supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was in Birbhum on Tuesday to attend an administrative meeting, Anubrata Mondal said: “I don’t know whether we will meet, I have many physical problems. I was with Didi (CM Banerjee) and will always remain with her. I convey my Durga Puja greetings to her.”
Mondal, considered a close aide of Mamata Banerjee who calls him by his nickname Kesto, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in August 2022.
The Supreme Court granted Anubrata bail in July this year on condition that he would surrender his passport and cooperate with the CBI. However, he remained in Tihar Jail due to a parallel ED investigation into an alleged cattle smuggling scam. Anubrata Mondal finally secured bail in the ED case on September 20, more than two years after his arrest.
His daughter Sukanya, a school teacher, was arrested in April 2023 and was accused of being an accomplice. A Delhi court granted her bail on September 10.
After his arrest, the chief minister had said that Mondal was a “victim of conspiracy”. Unlike TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, who lost the education portfolio and was suspended from the party following his arrest in connection with the school recruitment case in July 2022, Anubrata Mondal faced no action.
Anubrata Mondal was the president of TMC’s Birbhum unit, and after his arrest in August 2022, no new president was appointed. Mamata Banerjee has been overseeing the party’s district unit since his arrest.
On Tuesday, Mondal was greeted by his supporters with blowing of traditional conch shells, beating of drums and smearing of green-coloured ‘gulaal’ as he reached his home in Nichupatti area of Bolpur town.
After entering his home at 9 am on Tuesday, Mondal reached the party office where he stayed for an hour.
A local party leader said, “Welcome gates have been erected at several intersections and hoardings have been put up in Bolpur town as the residents want Anubrata Mondal to feel that he was being missed.”
— With PTI
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