The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday, November 3, 2022, questioned Abdul Karim Khan, a close associate Trinamool Congress party leader Anubrata Mandal, An official said in connection with the investigation into the animal smuggling case.
Khan, also a TMC leader from West Bengal’s Birbhum district, appeared for questioning before the CBI at its office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake near Kolkata, they said.
Investigators questioned him to trace his alleged involvement in cattle smugglingsaid the officer.
He was questioned by the CBI last month at its camp office in Birbhum’s Bolpur.
In this case, the party’s Birbhum district president Mandal was arrested on August 11.
Officials said it is alleged that Mandal provided security to the associates of alleged cattle smuggler Inamul Haque, who used to buy animals from a market in Illambazar.
He said the smugglers used to take the animals from Ilambazar to the India-Bangladesh border under Mandal’s alleged protection from state enforcement agencies.
It is alleged that he used the services of some BSF officers to take these cattle to Bangladesh.