ED arrests Anubrata Mondal’s daughter in Bengal cattle smuggling case

KOLKATA: The Enforcement Directorate today arrested Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal’s daughter, Sukanya Mondal, after long hours of questioning in New Delhi in the cattle smuggling case. Trinamool Congress general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh questioned the “haste” for the arrest and asked if the arrest could have been avoided since “Sukanya had recently lost her mother and her father was in jail”.

The ED had summoned Sukanya Mondal over huge unaccounted properties and bank accounts directly related to her in connection with the case. Mondal, who is a teacher by profession at the State Government-run primary school, has Fixed Deposits worth Rs 17 crore and huge properties registered under her name.

She had been skipping repeated summons since the time her father, the TMC chief of Birbhum district, Anubrata Mondal, was arrested on November 17, 2022, by the CBI. He is in judicial custody in Tihar Jail which had picked him up for questioning in the same cattle smuggling case.

Sources said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials questioned Sukanya Mondal about the huge unaccounted properties and bank accounts that were directly related to her in connection with the case.

When ED arrested TMC leader Anubrata Mondal into their custody in Delhi in November last year, his daughter Sukanya Mondal was summoned too, but she remained absent.

Two key aides of Anubrata Mondal are under arrest and lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Earlier, Manish Kothari, who was Anubrata Mondal and Sukanya Mondal’s chartered accountant, was summoned by the ED in Delhi and arrested after prolonged questioning in a cattle smuggling case. According to the ED officials, Manish Kothari admitted that he was bound to do tasks that were instructed by TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal. The central probe agency discovered other suspected bank accounts after interrogating Manish Kothari.

Another key aide, Sehgal Hossain, Anubrata Mondal’s bodyguard, is in custody in Tihar Jail after property worth more than Rs 100 crore was found to be owned by him.