Kolkata, April 3 (). Raju Jha, a coal trader who was shot dead by unidentified assailants on NH-19 in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district on Saturday evening, was going from Dugarpur to Kolkata in a car registered in the name of an absconding accused in a multi-crore cattle smuggling case . A source gave this information on Sunday.
Raju Jha was traveling with Brotin Bandyopadhyay, who was injured in the incident. According to the source, the Toyota SUV in which Jha and Bandyopadhyay were traveling is registered in the name of Abdul Latif, who is currently absconding and wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the cattle scam.
When Jha and Bandyopadhyay stopped near a sweet shop in Shaktigarh for refreshment, suddenly a blue car pulled up. The occupants of the car started firing, killing two people.
The SUV bearing registration number WB-48D-7032 was purchased in January 2020 and was registered with the Regional Transport Office (RTO) at Bolpur in Birbhum district. According to the records of the same RTO, the vehicle is registered in the name of Abdul Latif.
As per CBI records, Latif was a very close confidant of Trinamool Congress stalwart and party’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal, who is in judicial custody in Delhi for his alleged involvement in the cattle-smuggling scam.
According to CBI records, Latif, who was primarily responsible for monitoring the smooth passage of smuggled cattle from a cattle-trading center in Birbhum district to the India-Bangladesh border in Murshidabad district, was arrested by the central agency in August last year. After doing this he absconded.
He went absconding last year soon after the CBI called him for questioning.
FZ/SGK
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