Kolkata: Armed with the prescription issued by the medical board of state-run SSKM Medical College & Hospital advising him four-week bed rest, Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal again avoided grilling by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday afternoon.
This is the sixth time that Mondal, who’s also the Trinamool district president in Birbhum, avoided questioning by the CBI in connection with the central agency’s probe into cattle and coal smuggling cases in the state.
At 2.30 pm on Saturday, CBI sleuths served a notice to Mondal, asking him to be present at the CBI office at Nizam Palace by 5.30 pm.
However, at around 6.30 pm, an e-mail from Mondal reached the office of CBI wherein he expressed his inability to be present on Saturday because of physical ailments.
He also attached the prescription of the medical board that advised him to take complete rest for four weeks following which there will be another round of medical check-up.
Mondal had returned from the hospital to his residence in Kolkata late on Friday evening.
Highly-placed CBI sources said that following the e-mail communication from Mondal, another round of discussions has started involving senior officials at the CBI Directorate in Delhi.
“We are weighing two options. Either to send another notice to Mondal or wait for another four weeks. We will act as per the advice of our senior officers and legal representatives,” a CBI source said.
To recall, Mandal was supposed to appear at the CBI office for questioning on April 6. On April 5, he had reached Kolkata from his ancestral place in Bolpur in Birbhum district.
On the morning of April 6, he had even started from his residence, apparently heading for the CBI office. However, at the last moment he changed his route and reached the SSKM. After initial check-up, he was admitted to the hospital’s Woodburn Ward, meant for the VVIPs.
