Kolkata: Two companies with Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, as their director giving huge amounts of unsecured loans was probably an important avenue for channelising the proceeds of the cattle smuggling scam to different avenues, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the matter suspects.

Despite allowing them entry into the residence, she refused to answer a single question

Studying the books of accounts of ANM Agrochem Foods Private Limited and Neer Developer Private Limited, both having Sukanya Mondal as one of the two directors, the CBI sleuths found that both these companies gave huge amounts of unsecured loans amounting to around Rs 7 crore.

ANM Agrochem’s unsecured loan amount was much higher at around Rs 4.5 crore, as against Neer Developer’s Rs 2.4 crore.

“Since the beginning of our investigation, we had doubts that these companies were shell companies floated with the intention of channelising the money collected through illegal means to different avenues. Now, it seems that this channelising work was done under the garb of unsecured loans.

“It is also possible that the money paid as commission to different beneficiaries of the illegal cattle trade were shown as unsecured loans in the books of accounts,” a CBI official said.

Sources said that to question Sukanya Mondal, a team of four CBI officials, including a woman official, reached her ancestral residence at Bolpur on Wednesday afternoon. However, she refused to entertain them or answer their queries on this count.

The CBI has already approached a special court in Asansol, under whose jurisdiction Birbhum district comes, for a court order to question her.

However, on Wednesday the judge of the concerned bench hearing the cattle smuggling matter did not turn up. The CBI sleuths have submitted the related documents to the court so that the matter can come up for hearing at the earliest.

Once the CBI gets the court order on this count, Sukanya Mondal will be left with two options — first, to appear before the CBI and answer the queries, or face arrest like her father, who is under CBI custody as one of the prime accused in the case.

On the other hand, a team of four CBI officials, which included a lady officer, reached Anubrata Mondal’s ancestral residence at Bolpur in Birbhum district at around 12.30 pm, with the purpose of questioning Sukanya.

Despite allowing them entry into the residence, she refused to answer a single question.

CBI sources said that Sukanya Mondal told the agency sleuths that she was not in a mental state to answer any question in a situation when her father is in custody, while also dealing with losing her mother a year ago.

The CBI team left after about 10 minutes trying to persuade her to cooperate in the investigation process.

The sources said that questioning Sukanya Mondal has become important after the CBI traced two companies — ANM Agrochem Foods Private Limited and Neer Developer Private Limited — where she is one of the two directors.

The other director in these two companies is Bidyuta Gayen.

CBI sleuths doubt that the two firms are shell companies meant for channelising the proceeds of the illegal cattle trade to different avenues.

The question is that how can Sukanya Mondal, a primary teacher in a state-run school, can have such huge assets and property in her name.

The CBI sources said that besides these two companies, Sukanya Mondal’s bank accounts, either individually held by her or jointly with her father or other family members, are also under the scanner.

On Wednesday, the probe agency sleuths also questioned Anubrata Mondal’s chartered accountant Manish Kothari, as well as two employees of the local branch of a public sector bank in Bolpur, where the father-daughter duo had bank accounts.