Cattle smuggling case: ED to confront jailed TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal with daughter next week

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned jailed Trinamool Congress (TMC) strongman Anubrata Mondal’s daughter in connection with the cattle smuggling case next week.

Mondal’s daughter, Sukanya, will be confronted with her father during the interrogation in the law enforcement agency’s New Delhi headquarters, ED sources said.

The economic intelligence agency has also summoned 11 other people, including Manish Kothari, Mondal’s Chartered Accountant, sources claimed. All 12 people will be questioned about the cattle smuggling case.

After arresting the Birbhum TMC president on August 12, 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned and questioned Sukanya Mondal in its Delhi headquarters a few months ago. However, according to sources, she did not disclose much to the CBI at that time.

A credible source also said during the questioning, Sukanya Mondal tried to skip maximum questions with answers like “I don’t know, only my father can only answer these.”

After the CBI, the ED arrested the TMC strongman in the cattle smuggling case. Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Friday extended Mondal’s ED custody by 11 days. The TMC leader is facing ED probe in the alleged money laundering case related to West Bengal’s cattle smuggling case.

The ED wants to confront Anubrata with his daughter, Sukanya Mondal, to find out the money trail and the source of his property. Sources said Enamul Hoque, who is the kingpin in the cattle smuggling case, and Saigal Hussain, Mondal’s bodyguard, are in Tihar jail right now and the ED is planning to question them as well.

Mondal was picked up by the CBI on August 12 from his Bolpur home after the central probe agency said it had found his direct involvement in the cattle smuggling scam.

The TMC leader’s name came up in the cattle smuggling scam case after the CBI registered an FIR in 2020. According to the CBI, between 2015 and 2017, over 20,000 cattle heads had been seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) as they were being smuggled across the border.