Ex-helps, veggie vendor & councillors — frontmen TMC strongman parked ill-gotten money with

These alleged benamidar (front-persons), the investigators said, are close associates of Anubrata, the TMC’s Birbhum district president.

They are Bidyut Baren Gayen, a former servant in the Mondal household; Biswajyoti Banerjee and Omar Sheikh, both TMC councillors from the Bolpur Municipality in the district; party workers Tapas Mondal and Shyamapada Karmakar; Arko Dutta, a primary school teacher who previously served as a contractual worker in the civic body as well as a computer assistant in TMC’s local office; and Bijoy Rajak, a vegetable vendor who doubled up as a masseur for Mondal.

The ED said in the chargesheet, “According to the investigation so far, it was found that Bidyut Baren Gayen worked as a servant in the house of Anubrata Mondal since 1995. He joined the Bolpur Municipality as a driver in 1997 as a casual employee and got confirmed in 2017. While working in the civic body, he continued to work with Anubrata Mondal as a housekeeper. Initially, he was paid Rs 5,000 a month but at the time of leaving his job when diagnosed with a liver disease in 2019 he was getting Rs 15,000-20,000 in cash from Mondal.”

The fact that Gayen was working as a servant in the Mondal household was confirmed under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by several witnesses during the probe, it added. “He is a shareholder-cum-director in the companies — ANM Agrochem Private Ltd and Neer Developers Private Ltd — which are controlled and managed by the Mondal family. There were several bank transactions between Gayen and the Mondals,” the agency said.

Omar Sheikh, the councillor, also used to work at Mondal’s house at one time, it has been claimed.

“Another frontman Biswajyoti Banerjee is also very close to Anubrata Mondal. He is presently TMC councillor from Ward No 19 of the Bolpur Municipality. Earlier, he worked as a contractual employee in the civic body besides having worked in the Mondal household,” the supplementary chargesheet read.

Besides selling vegetables, Bijoy Rajak also provides laundry services, the agency said. Mondal’s driver Sehgal Hossain, who has also been arrested in the case, used to call Rajak for giving massage to the TMC leader at his house, it said.

“Tapas Mondal, a worker at the local TMC office in Bolpur, is involved in trading of building materials. Shyampada Karmakar, also a worker at the party’s local office, writes campaign material during the elections,” the chargesheet read.

These people, the agency alleged, were made to sign bank forms and blank cheques of various banks by Sehgal Hossain on the directions of Anubrata Mondal. “Cash was deposited in their bank accounts and then transferred to the accounts of Anubrata Mondal, Sehgal Hossain and their family members,” it added.