CBI hot on Anubrata Mondal's ‘money trail’ : Officials say a part of the TMC leader's 'proceeds of crime' were allegedly parked in multiple land parcels and properties

Officials say a part of the TMC leader's 'proceeds of crime' were allegedly parked in multiple land parcels and properties 

Mondal being taken by the CBI for a health check-up on Monday.: Sanat Kr Sinha

Kinsuk Basu And Snehamoy Chakraborty   |   TT  | Calcutta   |   23.08.22 : The CBI on Monday launched a multipronged probe into property and bank account details of friends and family members of arrested Trinamul leader Anubrata Mondal, to trace where he could have parked the money he had allegedly received for “arranging safe passage” for cattle smuggling to Bangladesh.

The central agency sent letters to seven banks in Birbhum district seeking details of financial transactions of at least 18 accounts between 2015 and 2019, the period of the alleged cattle smuggling . Officials said they would seek a forensic audit of these bank accounts of people in Mondal’s close circle and which saw a “spurt” in transactions in those years.

The move to find out more about these 18 bank accounts comes within days of the CBI stumbling upon fixed deposits of Rs 16.97 crore in Mondal’s accounts in a bank in Bolpur. His lawyers said he got the money from a health insurance firm after his wife’s death, a claim yet to be verified. The CBI on Monday also raided one rice mill reportedly owned by his sister. CBI sources said a part of Mondal’s “proceeds of crime” was allegedly parked in plots, properties — some jointly owned — rice mills and crushing units. 

“Beyond all this, it now appears a part of the money was diverted to bank accounts of several persons who were part of Mondal’s close circle,” said a senior official. “We want to know the source of this money and how these accounts saw a spurt in transactions after lying almost dormant for long.”

Mondal, who underwent a medical test at Command Hospital on Monday morning, has denied his alleged links with cattle smuggling. CBI officials said he has not been talking, making it difficult to proceed with the investigation. With two days left before Mondal appears before a court in Asansol, teams of CBI fanned out in Bolpur.

A team went to the home of Saigal Hossain, Mondal’s arrested bodyguard, a bank official in tow. Another team turned up at Shiva Shambhu rice mill in Bolpur, reportedly owned by Mondal’s sister after it was taken on longterm lease in 2015.

An employee told the CBI that production stopped a few months ago. “They (the CBI team) collected documents related to production and sale from rice mill units and asked employees details of the person who looked after daytoday work,” said an employee. 

CBI officers during the raid on a rice mill in Bolpur on Monday. : Amarnath Dutta

“We said production had stopped over the past few months. ”Rice mills across Bengal supply food grain to the state government for distribution through the public distribution system. The CBI had earlier raided a mill jointly owned by Mondal’s daughter Sukanya and wife Chhabi, who passed away in 2020. Many in Bolpur recalled Mondal’s dole of 1,750 tonnes of rice distributed to the poor across all 19 blocks of Birbhum and three in East Burdwan in April 2020 after the first Covid induced lockdown. Several persons close to Mondal said on April 21, 2020, Mondal flagged off several trucks of rice, roughly worth Rs 5.6 crore, from two rice mills in Bolpur for the poor in Birbhum. 

Although Mondal claimed the rice was contributed by many block leaders, Trinamul sources confirmed that the entire rice was taken from the rice mill owned by his family or close relatives and later distributed to the poor. “The real reason behind this act of benevolence is also being investigated,” said a source.