The Enforcement Directorate has frozen 36 bank accounts belonging to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal and his family, with a balance of Rs 25.86 crore, in connection with the cattle smuggling case. The ED arrested Mondal in November 2022 and the Supreme Court granted him bail in September 2024.

An ED statement read, “ED investigation revealed that the 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 district president of TMC of Birbhum district at the time of the commission of the offence and yielded enormous control over the local administration of Birbhum and adjacent districts of West Bengal.”

According to the ED, Mondal was in constant contact with the kingpin of the case, Md Emanul Haque, through his bodyguard, Senegal Hossain. The investigation revealed that Mondal received cash from Haque in exchange for providing patronage. This money was allegedly laundered by depositing it into various bank accounts belonging to his family members, associated entities, and local businessmen in Birbhum. The ED said that these individuals then returned the laundered funds through banking channels.

The agency has submitted four chargesheets in this case. The money laundering investigation originated from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR filed against former BSF commandant Satish Kumar, Haque, and others for allegedly operating a cattle smuggling racket along the India-Bangladesh international border in West Bengal.