The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has attached bank deposits worth about Rs 26 crore of TMC leader Anubrata Mondal as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation into an alleged cross-border cattle smuggling racket in West Bengal.
Mondal was arrested by the federal agency in November 2022 and was granted bail in the case by the Supreme Court in September last year.
An order for provisional attachment of bank deposits worth Rs 25.86 crore has been issued against Mondal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). These funds are kept in 36 bank accounts, the ED said in a statement.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader could not be immediately contacted for a response.
"Proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 48.06 crore were received by Anubrata Mondal for providing patronage to the cattle smuggling nexus in West Bengal.
"He was the Birbhum district president of the TMC at the time of commission of the offence and yielded enormous control over the local administration of Birbhum and adjacent districts of West Bengal," the agency said.
Through his bodyguard Sehegal Hossain, Mondal was in "constant touch" with the "kingpin" of the case, Mohammed Enamul Haque, it alleged.
The ED said Mondal laundered the cash "received" from Haque for "providing patronage" by depositing it in various bank accounts of his family members, associated entities, 'benamidars' (in whose name a benami property is standing) and local businessmen of Birbhum. They returned it through banking channels.
So far, the agency has filed four chargesheets in this case.
The money laundering probe stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR filed against former BSF commandant Satish Kumar, Haque and others for running an alleged cattle smuggling racket along the India-Bangladesh international border in West Bengal.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.