The Enforcement Directorate has attached the immovable property of Vinay Mishra, leader of the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress and his brother Vikas Mishra, in the cross-border animal trafficking case.
The move comes days after Vikas was arrested in an illegal coal mining and theft case in West Bengal. The attached property located in Kolkata was acquired by Mishra in May 2017 by buying shares of a company named Anant Tradecom Private Limited for a consideration of ₹ 3.5 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case. The investigating agency has officers from the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Customs Department. The CBI had earlier arrested Commandant Satish Kumar and a businessman named Enamul Haq in a case related to the smuggling of cattle in Bangladesh.
The agency alleged that from October 2016 to March 2017, Mishra received Rs 6.1 crore from Haq. The funds were arranged to purchase shares of Anant Tradecom, through housing entries from two Kolkata-based shell entities, and through cash deposits in the accounts of family members.
In the coal theft case, the ED has conducted about 49 searches and recorded statements of 40 people under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Agency. 1,300 crores have been collected evidence establishing the proceedings. The Mishra brothers got around ₹ 30 crore from some influential people and also for themselves, the ED has alleged.
The money laundering probe is based on an FIR lodged by the CBI in November last year.
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