Cattle smuggling case: Assets worth over 70 crores owned by Anuvrat Mandal, land bought in driver and servant's names

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has made shocking revelations about Anuvrat Mandal, who is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail in connection with a cattle smuggling case. In its charge sheet filed in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court, the ED has claimed that Mandal owns assets worth Rs 77 crore, which he bought in the names of his servants and driver to evade scrutiny.

The agency further alleged that Mandal used his political influence to smuggle cattle across the Bangladesh border, and the money obtained from this illegal activity was used to purchase properties and institutions.

According to the ED, a bank account was opened in the name of Mandal's domestic servant, Vidyut Varan, to launder money linked to cattle smuggling, and a land worth Rs 7.71 crore was bought in his name despite him getting a monthly salary of just Rs 15,000. Similarly, an account was opened in the name of Vijay Rajak, another servant working in the rice mill, in which transactions worth crores of rupees have taken place.

The agency has also claimed that benami accounts were opened in the names of various Trinamool leaders and activists of Bolpur on behalf of Mandal, in which the money obtained from cattle smuggling was kept.

Furthermore, the ED has alleged that Mandal faked winning the lottery 10 to 12 times to launder black money, even though the lottery was never in his name. It has also claimed that Mandal bought a total of 29.5 million properties in December last year using the money obtained through cattle smuggling. The assets worth Rs 77.26 crore found in Mandal's name include properties, rice mills, and institutions, which he bought in the names of his daughters, servants, and drivers to evade scrutiny.