Kolkata: Senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal and 13 others were acquitted on Friday in a 2010 case of violence at Mangalkot in Birbhum district by an MP/MLA court here on Friday. Mondal and the 13 others were accused in the case of political violence in March, 2010, in which some people were injured.
The judge of the MP/MLA court acquitted Mondal and the others for want of evidence. The prosecution could not prove from the testimonies of witnesses that the accused were present in the scene of violence, the court held. It was alleged that a few activists of the then ruling CPI(M) were injured in a clash with TMC supporters at a village in Mangalkot.
Following his acquittal, Mondal claimed that he had been framed in the case. The TMC leader is at present in judicial custody following his arrest on August 11 by CBI in connection with the cattle smuggling case.
Meanwhile, a day after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee urged party workers to accord Anubrata Mondal a hero's welcome when he comes out of jail, the arrested party strongman on Friday said he is happy to have 'didi' on his side during the crisis. Mondal was talking to reporters when he was being taken out from Asansol jail to produce before Bidhannagar civil court in connection with the 2010 Mangalkote blast case. He was named in a chargesheet in the case.
"None spends entire life in jail. An undertrial has to be released at one point in time. I am not demoralised. It is enough for me that our leader, respected didi, is on my side," Mondal said before being whisked away in a car. The TMC leader was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on August 11 in connection with its probe into the alleged cattle smuggling to Bangladesh from West Bengal.
He was remanded to 14-day custody twice by a special CBI court in Asansol. Unlike the case of Partha Chatterjee, who was shown the door by the party following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a school recruitment scam, Banerjee has stood by Mondal. Addressing TMC workers in a meeting, Banerjee had on Thursday said, "Anubrata will come out of jail one day and you will accord him a hero's welcome when he comes out of jail. He is unwell, and before every election, his movements are restricted. (PTI)
