The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday arrested Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal’s chartered accountant, Manish Kothari, after questioning him for nearly 10 hours in connection with a case of cattle smuggling through India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.
The ED has also summoned Mondal’s daughter, Sukanya, and asked her to join the probe on Wednesday. According to officials, Kothari was summoned on Tuesday and asked to join the investigation in Delhi.
“He was questioned for around 10 hours, as the investigation team has crucial evidence, which show he allegedly helped the senior TMC leader (Mondal) siphon money through shell companies. He kept changing his statements throughout questioning and was formally placed under arrest after several discrepancies were found in his statements,” an official said.
The ED had summoned Mondal for questioning last week. A Delhi court later sent him to ED custody until March 10. The ED was questioning him in a money laundering case linked to cattle smuggling in which he was arrested by CBI last August.