A special CBI court in Asansol extended Trinamul leader Anubrata Mondal’s jail custody on Saturday till November 11 after hearing the counsels of both sides.

Moving a bail plea, Mondal’s lawyers said the CBI probe was directed against a political party and asked for how long their client would have to stay in jail. Mondal has spent 79 days at the Asansol correctional home.

The lawyers claimed no progress was made in the CBI probe into the cattle-smuggling case and charges that Mondal was not cooperating with sleuths were baseless.

CBI lawyers said that Mondal was an influential politician who could tamper evidence and intimidate witnesses.

One of Mondal’s lawyers Anirban Guha Thakurta — the other being Sanjay Dasgupta — asked: Will my client have to stay in jail till the CBI completes its investigation? We also want to know for how long the investigation will continue."

The CBI judge also wanted to know from CBI lawyers how long it would take to complete the investigation. CBI officials present in court said they were likely to finish the probe in the next two months.

CBI lawyers Dinesh Kumar and Priyabrata Das objected to the bail plea by saying Mondal was an “influential” politician who could tamper with evidence and intimidate witnesses.

CBI judge Rajesh Chakraborty sent Mondal to jail custody till November 11.

Before entering the courtroom, Mondal had a brief chat with some party leaders and councillors from Birbhum on the upcoming panchayat polls. Some party leaders later told the media that Mondal asked them to start working hard for the polls.

“He told us to start work from now for the upcoming rural polls. He asked us to work together without factional feuds. He also wanted to know details of our party's Vijaya Sammiloni programmes,” said a Trinamul councillor from Rampurhat who had come to the CBI court in Asansol.

In another development, judicial custody of Trinamul Congress-run Halisahar municipality chief Raju Sahani was extended by another fortnight by the Wes Burdwan district judge on Saturday. Sahani, arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in a Rs 100 crore money laundering scam on September 3 and now in judicial custody, will be again produced before the court on November 11.