The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached movable properties valued at ₹25.86 crore in a case of cattle smuggling from India to Bangladesh, allegedly involving a former Border Security Force (BSF) commandant and a former district president of Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Birbhum.
The action has been taken under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The attached properties include 36 bank accounts having total credit balance of ₹25.86 crore in the name of former TMC district president (Birbhum) Anubrata Mondal, his family members, his associated firms and companies, and “benamidars”, said the agency.
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A Bench of Justices Bela M. Trivedi and S.C. Sharma granted the relief to Mr. Mondal after noting that the trial in the matter would take time and he has been in jail for two years.
“The ED investigation revealed that the proceeds of crime (POC) to the tune of ₹48.06 crore were received by Anubrata Mondal for providing patronage to the cattle smuggling nexus in West Bengal. He was the district president The TMC of Birbhum district at the time of commission of the offence and wielded enormous control over local administration of Birbhum and adjacent districts of West Bengal,” the ED said.
The ED initiated investigations on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Satish Kumar, then BSF Commandant, one Mohammed Enamul Haque and others for “cattle smuggling” into Bangladesh from India via Western Bengal.
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“Anubrata Mondal, through his bodyguard Sehegal Hossain, was in constant touch with the kingpin of the case Md. Enamul Haque. The ED investigation revealed that the cash received by Anubrata Mondal from Md. Enamul Haque for providing patronage was laundered by depositing it in various bank accounts of his family members, associated entities, ‘benamidars’ and local businessmen of Birbhum, who thereafter returned the same through banking channels,” said the agency.
The ED had earlier arrested Mr. Mondal on November 17, 2022, in the case and he was granted bail by a Delhi special court on September 20, 2024, after 22 months of judicial custody. Four prosecution complaints have been filed in the matter so far. The total attachment in the case now stands at ₹51.13 crore.
