The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal, who has been accused of involvement in smuggling cattle across the India-Bangladesh border, reported Bar and Bench.

A bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma directed Mondal to surrender his passport, and told him to cooperate during the trial and not influence witnesses.

Mondal has been accused of involvement in bribing Border Security Force personnel to facilitate the smuggling of cattle to Bangladesh. He was arrested on August 11, 2022, at which time he was the Trinamool Congress’ district president for the Birbhum district.

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Mondal, argued before the court on Tuesday that the other accused persons in the case, including the alleged kingpin, had been granted bail.

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

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