The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches on Thursday at two residential properties owned by Trinamool Youth Congress leader Vinay Mishra in connection with their investigation into cattle trafficking. The CBI also searched the homes of two businessmen in Konnagar in the Hooghly district as part of its investigation into the theft of coal.
Failing to find Mishra, the central agency issued a surveillance notice against him and asked him to join the investigation on January 4.
“Two places belonging to Vinay Mishra were searched. The search operation took about seven hours. Mishra has been asked to appear before the CBI investigators at the Nizam Palace on January 4, ”said a CBI official, adding that his name appeared several times during the investigation.
A team of at least 10 IWC officials searched Mishra’s houses in Lake Town and Rashbehari in Kolkata after obtaining a search warrant from a court.
This is the first time that a TMC leader has been directly named in the case.
The BJP, which has been accusing Trinamool leaders of being linked to cattle smuggling and coal theft, was quick to target Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and MP Abhishek Banerjee. “After the CBI raid on Vinay Mishra, the home of the power broker in Bengal, senior Bengal officials called an emergency meeting. There was a great movement in the place of the Chief Minister and Bhaipo ”, tweeted Kailash Vijayvargiya, responsible for the election of the BJP for Bengal.
Union Minister and BJP leader Babul Supriyo stated that Mishra is close to “Bhaipoo”, referring to Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew.
“This was destined to happen. Mishra is the right hand of Bhaipoo. Not only cattle smuggling, he is the man who supplies money for smuggling coal, sand. In fact, he is the man who handles the transfer and fate of lower-ranking police officers. It is linked to many. He is also linked to the defendant Anup Majhi, who has been mentioned in smuggling coal. Through him, the CBI investigation will lead to bigger names, ”Supriyo said.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticized the BJP, accusing the party of using central agencies to attack TMC leaders.
“The BJP is playing politics and everything is evident,” said TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh.
“Abhishek Banerjee has no connection to all this. BJP leader Babul Supriyo has been warned in the past by the courts for making baseless accusations against Abhishek. Today the type of statement he is giving is a clear case of contempt of court, and action will be taken against him soon. BJP is only trying to smear the TMC name because they can’t fight us any other way. There are many who are named in the Sarada and Narada cases against which the agency has witnesses, but unfortunately we do not see CBI on their premises and instead they are occupying a good position in the BJP, “added Ghosh.
“With most of the BJP allies resigning from the NDA, the new party allies are central agencies like CBI, ED… CBI, ED are working as allies of BJP. But Bengal is strong. The people of Bengal will not support BJP and will not be scared off by their threats, “said TMC spokesman Debu Tudu.
In September, the IWC filed a lawsuit against former Border Security Force (BSF) officer Satish Kumar, three unknown individuals and public officials for their alleged involvement in the illegal cattle trade along the West Bengal border and Bangladesh. Kumar was arrested on November 17.
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