Delhi court sends TMC leader Anubrata Mondal’s daughter to 3-day ED custody

The judge sent her to ED custody till April 30 and her father is already in judicial custody in the case

A Delhi court on Thursday sent TMC leader Anubrata Mondal's daughter Sukanya to three-day custody of the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case related to alleged cattle smuggling at the India-Bangladesh border.

A primary school teacher in West Bengal's Birbhum district, Sukanya Mondal was arrested on Wednesday by the ED following her questioning. She was produced before Special Judge Raghubeer Singh on Thursday.

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The judge sent her to ED custody till April 30. Her father is already in judicial custody in the case.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana sought her custody saying she was required to be confronted with evidence and the co-accused, including her father. Rana said Sukanya's custody was also required to trace the proceeds of crime, establish the money trail and the modus operandi.

Anubrata Mondal, the former Birbhum district president of the Trinamool Congress, was arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in cattle smuggling and was named in the charge sheet. He was subsequently arrested by the ED.

In December last year, the ED attached 32 properties worth more than Rs 1.58 crore belonging to Anubrata Mondal's former bodyguard Sehegal Hossain. The ED said Hossain was a "close confidant of Anubrata Mondal and one of the prominent members of this whole smuggling racket operating across the India-Bangladesh border."

Hossain, the prime accused in the case, Enamul Haque and a Border Security Force commandant-rank officer (of the 36th BSF battalion) Satish Kumar were also arrested by the ED in this case.

Kumar, who was posted in Murshidabad and Malda regions of West Bengal along the international border, was arrested earlier by the CBI in this case. The ED filed a criminal case against him in September 2020.

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The ED has filed two charge sheets in the cattle smuggling case till now and has attached assets worth a total of Rs 20.25 crore.

Its charge sheet (also known as prosecution complaint), filed before a Delhi court in April, named Haque, TMC leader Vinay Mishra, his brother Vikas Mishra (arrested by the ED in an another money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal) and companies related to these individuals — Hoque Industries Pvt. Ltd., Hoque Mercantile Pvt. Ltd. and Anant Tradecom Pvt. Ltd. — as accused in the case.

"The total proceeds of crime ascertained in this case, till date, is Rs 29.43 crore," the ED said.