The former commandant of India's Border Security Force Satish Kumar has been shown arrested under the anti-money laundering law in a case linked to alleged cattle smuggling across the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal state, the Enforcement Directorate said today (April 25. 2022).

Kumar is a former commanding officer of the 36th BSF battalion (BSF) that is deployed to guard the front with Bangladesh. Earlier, he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the same case and suspended from service. Kumar had commanded BSF units in Malda and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The officer, after being taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) last week, was produced before a special court in Delhi on April 23. He was remanded to three days ED custody by the court, the agency said.

"He (Kumar) had received proceeds of crime of Rs 12.8 crore from Md Enamul Haque in the accounts of his wife and his father-in-law. This was further laundered and immovable properties and mutual funds were purchased," the ED said in a statement.

This is the second arrest in this case.

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Haque, the prime accused in the case, was arrested by the federal agency on February 18 and is currently in judicial custody.

The ED also filed a charge sheet or prosecution complaint before a Delhi court on April 16 and named Haque, Trinamool Congress leader Vinay Mishra, his brother Vikas Mishra (arrested by the ED in an 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 in the case.

Special judge Sanjay Garg took cognisance of the charge sheet on April 19 and issued summons against all the accused persons directing them to appear before it on June 1.

The ED case (filed on September 25, 2020) stems from a CBI FIR of September 21, 2020 registered against Kumar, Haque, Md Anarul SK, Md Golam Mustafa, some other officials of the BSF, Customs and others for corruption by allegedly indulging in the crime of cross-border cattle smuggling.

The ED conducted two dozen raids and has attached assets worth Rs 18.5 crore in the case till now, including those in the name of Haque, Mishra brothers, BSF officer Kumar's wife Tanya Sanyal and son Bhaskar Bhuvan.