ED arrests Anubrata Mondal's daughter Sukanya Mondal

Sukanya was not cooperating with central investigating agency during interrogation and was allegedly trying to evade questions

Sukanya Mondal: File picture

Kinsuk Basu   |   TT  |  Calcutta   |    27.04.23  : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested Sukanya, daughter of imprisoned Trinamul Congress heavyweight Anubrata Mondal, in the cattle smuggling case. 

Sukanya had gone to the ED headquarters in New Delhi with her lawyer in tow to face questioning around 10.30am on Wednesday. While the lawyer was denied entry, Sukanya was escorted inside to face interrogators who had summoned her several times in the past one-and-a-half months. 

Sukanya was arrested after close to six hours of interrogation, almost eight months after the CBI had rounded up Anubrata for his alleged involvement in the alleged cattle smuggling. A Delhi court later sent the veteran leader from Birbhum to the ED's custody. 

On Wednesday, senior ED officials said Sukanya was not cooperating with the central investigating agency during the interrogation and was allegedly trying to evade questions, saying Anubrata was aware of all financial dealings and she was clueless.

"She was arrested for not cooperating with us throughout the interrogation. We will produce her in the Rouse Avenue court (in Delhi) on Thursday and seek her custody," said a senior ED official. 

The ED had arrested Manish Kothari, Anubrata's chartered accountant, in March for allegedly helping him siphon off money through shell companies.

The ED sleuths said Sukanya had been evading summons for some time, citing illness. She did not turn up on three occasions, including April 13, when she was last asked to appear. 

On Wednesday, when Sukanya appeared, the investigating team was ready with several documents that allegedly suggested that Anubrata's daughter was well aware of the routing of the "proceeds of crime" by his father. 

Sources said when Sukanya was asked to explain her signatures on several documents, she pleaded ignorance and said her father and Kothari knew all those things. 

"We are trying to trace the path that several crores of rupees collected from the alleged smuggling had travelled. Sukanya appears to be completely aware of the dealings," the official said. 

The investigators said they had been tracing transactions made through foreign banks by two companies in which Sukanya was one of the joint directors. These transfers were made between 2015 and 2018, officials said. 

Sukanya is a teacher at a primary school in Birbhum. 

Reacting to her arrest, a senior Trinamul Congress leader said: "The law will take its own course."