In setback to TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, court allows ED to bring him to Delhi

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal suffered a setback on Monday when a Rouse Avenue court in the national Capital permitted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to bring him to Delhi for interrogation in the cattle smuggling case, officials of the federal agency said.

Mondal’s legal team led by senior counsel Kapil Sibal earlier approached the Delhi high court against ED’s bid to bring the TMC Birbhum district unit president to Delhi but the high court referred the case back to the Rouse Avenue court.

Mondal, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 11, has been in judicial custody at the Asansol correctional home in Bengal’s West Burdwan district.

Mondal’s former bodyguard, Sehgal Hossain, was arrested by CBI on June 10 and named as a prime accused in the agency’s third charge sheet filed on August 8. Hossain is now lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

Mondal was named in CBI’s fourth charge sheet filed at the Asansol court on October 7.

CBI officials claim to have detected Mondal’s suspected link to 168 land and property deeds executed in or after 2014. At least two dozen of these properties belong to him, while the remaining 144 registration papers bear the names of his relatives, aides and their kin.

CBI suspects that profits from cattle smuggling were used to buy these properties. ED is probing the case linked to alleged money laundering of the proceeds from cattle smuggling.

TMC Birbhum unit vice president Moloy Mukherjee said an appeal will be filed against the Delhi court order. “Our lawyers in Delhi are working on it,” he said.

Cabinet minister and Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, who earlier described Mondal as “the tiger of Birbhum,” expressed optimism that Mondal will get justice from the court.

“He is still the tiger of Birbhum. We have full faith in God and the judiciary. We will surely get justice from the court,” he said.

Mondal’s daughter Sukanya, who is suspected to be among the beneficiaries, was last month summoned by ED to its Delhi office. ED officials said she was interrogated alone and also brought face-to-face with Sehgal Hossain to resolve contradictions in their respective statements.

Sukanya Mondol, 31, a primary school teacher appointed by the state government in 2011, when the TMC first came to power, is the director of two companies, Neer Developer Pvt Ltd and ANM Agrochem Foods Pvt Ltd, a CBI probe has revealed.

The companies have their offices at the same address where Bholebam Rice Mill, which is also owned by her, is located in Birbhum’s Bolpur town.

CBI raided the mill on August 19 and subsequently traced documents which indicate that between 2018 and 2021 as many as 16 property deeds were recorded in the name ANM Agrochem Foods while three properties were purchased by Neer Developer.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a swipe at the TMC after news of the court order on Monday emerged.

“Anubrata Mondal should be in Tihar jail for what he has done,” said Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar

.