Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal smoothened the way for a racket “of procurement and transportation of cattle for smuggling”, while his daughter Sukanya laundered the proceeds by purchasing winning lottery tickets in cash, according to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED’s) chargesheet filed against them before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court.
ThePrint has accessed a copy of the 204-page chargesheet, which was filed Thursday in connection with the multi-crore cattle smuggling ‘scam’.
Mondal, his daughter Sukanya and chartered accountant Manish Kothari are all lodged in Tihar jail for their alleged role in the racket. While Mondal was arrested by the ED in November 2022, Kothari was arrested in March this year and Sukanya in April. All three have been named in the chargesheet. Mondal was also arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting an independent probe in the alleged scam in July last year.
Meanwhile, the Rouse Avenue court issued notice to the ED Saturday on Sukanya’s bail plea. According to media reports, special judge Raghubeer Singh issued notice to the central agency and listed the matter for hearing on 12 May. Mondal is to be produced before the court after the expiry of judicial custody that day.
What the chargesheet says
During the investigation, the central agency examined several bank accounts of Mondal and his family members which allegedly revealed cash deposits amounting to Rs 12.8 crore — all proceeds of crime from cattle smuggling, said the chargesheet.
The agency claimed that the cash deposits had a specific pattern. They were either of Rs 49,999 or of Rs 49,000 through cash deposit machines to avoid detection by statutory authorities such as banks and the income tax department because according to the banking system, PAN details of the depositor are mandatory for any deposit above Rs 50,000.
“The sources of these cash deposits have not been explained by either Anubrata Mondal or his daughter Ms Sukanya Mondal,” it said.
It added that while Mondal claimed that this cash was his remuneration for brokering land deals and trading business of paddy, “(he) could not supply any documentary evidence till date”.
The ED also claimed that in order to launder the proceeds of the crime, Mondal would, through a deal with a lottery agency in Bolpur, purchase winning lottery tickets
The chargesheet said that according to their arrangement, the lottery agency would inform Mondal about the winners of heavy prizes in lieu of some commission. Then, it added, Mondal would contact the winners through his “henchmen and local influencers” to get the winning tickets from them in exchange for large amounts of cash.
According to the ED, the investigation has revealed that the father-daughter has thus claimed two winning tickets worth Rs 50 lakh each and one amounting to Rs 1 crore.
The central agency claimed that Mondal used this modus operandi to launder around Rs 2 crore which, it said, were proceeds of crime.
The chargesheet also said that Mondal paid Rs 28 lakh to accountant Kothari from December 2017 till July 2022 – in smaller sums of Rs 50,000 each – for his assistance in laundering the ‘proceeds of crime’.
Blame game
Speaking to the media in Malda Friday, TMC minister Firhad Hakim said, “The cows were coming from BJP-ruled states, cattle smuggling has been going on since CPM rule in West Bengal.”
He also asked why the investigation was only restricted to post 2011 (since TMC came to power). “Why are the agencies not investigating the previous Left regime and looking for beneficiaries back then first?”
West Bengal BJP chief and MP Dr Sukanta Majumdar responded to Hakim in a press conference later in the day by asking why the TMC, that has been in power for over a decade in the state, did not initiate any investigation against the Left if it was aware of its alleged role.
He added, “Anubrata Mondal will remain in jail for the next 4-5 years. He needs to start adjusting and making himself comfortable in jail.”
CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty told ThePrint, “What the ED has stated in its chargesheet is already public knowledge. The bigger the leader in TMC, the bigger the thief they are. They sold jobs, looted coal, looted cattle. The TMC has looted Bengal.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)