Cattle trafficking: CBI suspects proceeds being put in gold

Kolkata 9 September : Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigators investigating the case of multi-crore cattle smuggling in West Bengal, are looking for specific clues to show that a portion of the profits of the crime was put into in gold.

The shop owner was a close friend of Trinamool Congress strongman and the partys Birbhum district president, Anubrata Mondal.The investigators of the central agency discovered that gold ornaments of around 3 crores rupees decorated to enhance the image of Goddess Kali in Mondals home of Mondal in the celebration of Kali Puja each year were bought from this particular shop.

In the same way there were a lot of Mondals family members and close associates were frequent customers of this store and this had led to doubts in the minds of the CBI detectives that a large portion of the profits of the cattle trafficking could be put to use in gold.It has been reported that CBI investigators inquired with the shops owner about the specifics of gold ornaments that were purchased by Mondal and his family members in the past five years.

They also demanded the specifics of the receipts for purchases in this regard from Mondal.In the meantime the CBI has tracked a new fixed deposit of 1 crore that is in the name of Mondals daughter Sukanya Mondal.

The fixed deposit was located in the Bolpur branch of the public sector Indian Bank.The previous month the CBI had frozen other fixed deposits of around Rs 16.97 crore, held by Mondal and his wife who died daughter and others of his close family members.While at the same time the CBI investigators are constantly asking different officers of the state Land and Land Revenue Department to get the specifics of the land that was bought by Mondal as well as his relatives and close associates over the past five years "Already we have seen various parcels of and in the names of Mondal and his relatives and family members.

Incredibly, the price quoted for purchase of certain parcels of land located in prime areas close to the National Highways are much lower than the actual value of the area," a CBI source stated.src/v.