NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday declared former TMC youth wing leader Vinay Mishra a proclaimed offender (PO) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged cattle smuggling racket across the India-Bangladesh border.
Special Judge Raghubir Singh passed the order on an application moved by the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana.
In the application, Rana told the court that Mishra, who was the alleged kingpin in the smuggling racket, failed to appear before the court despite being summoned by the judge and even an arrest warrant has been issued against him for his non-appearance in the matter.
Rana said that Mishra was required to be declared a PO for further course of action against him which includes a Red Corner Notice.
The court had in April taken cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the ED against Mishra, Mohammad Enamul Haque, and others and the judge had issued a summons for the accused to appear before it.
According to the ED, the case was lodged following an FIR by the CBI in Kolkata against Satish Kumar, the then Commandant of the Border Security Force (BSF).
The FIR alleged that Haque, along with Kumar and other public servants and private persons was involved in the smuggling of cattle.
It was alleged that the smuggling of cattle through the India-Bangladesh border was carried out at Haque's instance and he paid bribes to the security personnel for facilitating the illegal trade.