The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is investigating the cattle smuggling case and the money laundering suspicions as part of it, is planning to question the senior functionaries of the lottery company after it was revealed that the jailed Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal had won Rs 1 crore.
The senior ED officials stated that they plan to question the directors of the lottery corporation to understand how their business model works. This includes questioning about funding patterns, ticket distribution among states, and turnovers over the last few years.
According to the officials, the interrogation would probably take place at the ED’s Delhi headquarters some time next week. Apart from Mondal, the wife of a Trinamool MLA from Kolkata has also won Rs 1 crore from the lottery company.
Anubrata won the lottery in January while the MLA’s wife won it in October. A senior official said, “We would like to get clarifications on some of the findings that we have picked up from the company’s audited results and understand the business model.”
Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Anubrata, is also being investigated for the same suspicious lottery winnings. CBI sources have revealed that she also won two lotteries back in 2019.
Mondal had won more than three lotteries recently and is now under the radar of ED. Earlier investigations suggest that he was involved in cattle smuggling and used lotteries to launder those proceeds.
The Central Bureau of Investigation also interrogated the vendor of the lottery tickets about Mondal winning but the vendor told the CBI that Mondal was not the purchaser of the winning lottery ticket, which carried a jackpot value of Rs 1 crore.
As for the latest decision of the CBI court in Asansol last Friday, the custody of Anubrata Mondal has been extended by another fortnight.
