Trinamool Congress leader Chandrima Bhattacharya on Thursday said that the central agencies spared Bharatiya Janata Party leaders accused of corruption and were on a “political witch hunt” against Opposition leaders.

Bhattacharya made the remarks while speaking about the arrest of party leader Anubrata Mondal in an alleged cattle smuggling case. A special court in West Bengal’s Asansol on Thursday remanded Mondal to the Central Bureau of Investigation’s custody till August 20.

“The party will take the appropriate decision [on Mondal] at the right time,” Bhattacharya said. “There is a proper procedure in the party regarding such cases. An allegation against someone doesn’t prove him guilty.”

The Trinamool Congress leader said that the party has serious doubts about how central investigative agencies function. Bhattacharya added that the Trinamool Congress will organise protests in West Bengal against the central investigation agencies in the next two days.

The case

On September 21, 2020, the CBI filed a case against Border Security Force commandant Satish Kumar and three others for allegedly allowing illegal cattle trade along the border between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

The agency arrested the main accused person, cattle trader Mohammad Enamul Haque, in New Delhi in November 2020. Haque and two other cattle traders named Anarul Sheikh and Muhammad Ghulam Mustafa were involved in the illegal trade, according to the first information report.

The CBI has alleged that cattle seized by the Border Security Force were undervalued so that traders could buy them at low prices and then sell them in Bangladesh. The agency has claimed that a part of the money from the sale went to some Trinamool Congress leaders, including Mondal, and government officials.