ED arrests ex-BSF officer under money laundering law in cattle smuggling

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday stated that former BSF commandant Satish Kumar has been arrested under the anti-money laundering law in a case linked to alleged cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh international border in West Bengal.

Kumar served as the former commanding officer of the 36th Border Security Force battalion (BSF), which is responsible for guarding the border between the two countries.

He had led BSF units in West Bengal's Malda and Murshidabad districts after being arrested by the CBI earlier in the same case.

The official was taken before a special court in Delhi on April 23 after being arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last week. The judge ordered him to spend three days in ED custody, according to the agency.

"He (Kumar) had received Rs 12.8 crore in proceeds of crime from Md Enamul Haque in his wife's and father-in-law's accounts." The money was then laundered, with immovable properties and mutual funds being purchased, according to the ED.

In this case, it is the second arrest. The case's prime suspect, Haque, was arrested by a federal agency on February 18 and is currently being held in judicial custody.

It also named that Haque, TMC leader Vinay Mishra, his brother Vikas Mishra (arrested by the ED in another money laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in West Bengal) and companies related to these individuals — Hoque Industries Pvt. Ltd., Hoque Mercantile Pvt. Ltd., and Anant Tradecom Pvt. Ltd. — as accused persons in the case.

On April 19, the court of special judge Sanjay Garg took cognizance of the charge sheet and issued summons to all of the accused, directing them to appear in court on June 1.

The ED case (filed on September 25, 2020) derives from a CBI FIR filed on September 21, 2020, charging Kumar, Haque, Md Anarul SK, Md Golam Mustafa, and various BSF, Customs, and other officers with corruption for allegedly engaged in cross-border cattle smuggling.

The ED has carried out as many as two dozen raids and confiscated assets worth Rs 18.5 crore in the case so far, including those belonging to Haque, the Mishra brothers, BSF officer Kumar's wife Tanya Sanyal, and his son Bhaskar Bhuvan.