CBI arrests BSF commandant in cattle smuggling case

The CBI on Tuesday arrested a BSF commandant for his alleged involvement in a cattle smuggling racket operating at the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Bengal, a statement by the investigating agency said. Satish Kumar, the BSF commandant who is now posted at Raipur in Chhattisgarh, was summoned to Kolkata for questioning in connection with the case by CBI. A CBI statement said that a case was registered on September 21, 2020 against the then commandant of 36 Battalion, Border Security Force (BSF), three private persons and unknown public servants and private persons following allegations of illegal cattle trade along West Bengal- Bangladesh border by the accused "in connivance with public servants."Searches were earlier conducted at the premises of the accused. Investigation is on", it added.
The three other persons who were booked along with Kumar included Enamul Haque, the alleged kingpin of the cattle smuggling racket.The CBI had arrested Haq on November 6 in New Delhi. A court in the national capital had granted him interim bail and told him to appear before CBI in Kolkata on November 9. Haque was arrested in 2018 by CBI for allegedly bribing another BSF Commandant and is out on bail in that case.The BSF commandant's arrest has triggered a war of words between the BJP and the ruling TMC in Bengal. The saffron party has said that many more heads are "likely to roll in the days to come".