Anubrata Mondal gains confidence after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's support

Anubrata Mondal sounded upbeat Monday after evident support from Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, claiming through his lawyer that he is being "wrongfully" held by CBI in a cattle smuggling case.

Separately, CBI is likely to speak to Mondal's daughter Sukanya and about 15 other associates of the arrested Trinamool chief for Birbhum district. These may include his security personnel. Mondal, during the CBI interrogation, reportedly claimed that he was in the dark about the activities of his arrested bodyguard Saigal Hossain, a West Bengal Police trooper also accused of building properties worth several crores of rupees.

"Mondal is feeling confident after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee supported him. Mondal told me that he knew 'Didi' will stand by him and claimed that he has been arrested wrongfully and that he is innocent," Mondal's lawyer Anirban Guha Thakurta told the media in Calcutta after meeting his client Monday morning.


Mondal is being held at a CBI facility at Nizam Palace, located in Calcutta's prime business district.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday questioned the arrest of Mondal during a political meeting in a Calcutta suburb.

"His house was in a state of rampage after the CBI entered," Banerjee said. "He never wanted to be MP, MLA or even a Rajya Sabha MP or aspired for any other post."

Several companies and properties in the name of Mondal's daughter Sukanya Mondal and other close associates of Anubrata are under the CBI's scanner, people aware of the line of probe told ET.