Anubrata Mondal Age, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Nickname	Keshto Da
Profession(s)	Politician and Businessman
Career
Political Party	• Indian National Congress (INC) (the early 1990s-1998) • All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) (1998-present)
Political Journey	• President of TMC Birbhum district (2000-present) • Member of the national working committee of the TMC (February 2022-present)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	1 April 1959 (Wednesday)
Age (as of 2024)	65 Years
Birthplace	Bolpur, Birbhum district, West Bengal, India
Zodiac sign	Aries
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Bolpur, Birbhum district, West Bengal, India
Educational Qualification	He has studied till class 8th. [1]TheWall
Religion	Hinduism [2]Business Standard
Food Habit	Non-vegetarian [3]YouTube
Controversies	• Making headlines for indulging in violence during polls: Anubrata Mondal has often been accused of resorting to violence against opposition parties' candidates during the elections. Reportedly, during the 2013 panchayat elections in West Bengal, Anubrata, during a rally, asked his supporters to not only hurl crude bombs at the police stationed at the polling booths but also asked them to burn down the houses of the opposition party candidates. He reportedly asked his followers to block the non-TMC candidates from filing their nominations for the polls. This resulted in several candidates being brutally beaten by the TMC workers. [4]The Times of India In an interview, Dudhkumar Mondal, the then BJP Birbhum district president, said, "Sujay Biswas and Biswajit Baidya of BJP were dragged out from the BDO office and beaten severely. They sustained serious head injuries. At Labhpur, our district Kashinath Mishra was beaten and he has been hospitalized with a head injury." His actions drew criticism from different political parties, which complained to the state's election commission. Mamata Banerjee, the CM of West Bengal, defended him by blaming the media for distorting his words to gain TRP. She also said that Anubrata was in no condition to issue threats as he suffers from a medical condition called hypoxia. Anubrata's name was linked with the murder of Sagar Ghosh, an independent Lok Sabha elections candidate named Hriday Ghosh's father, in 2014. [5]The Times of India For giving provocative speeches during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as the 2016 State Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) put him on its watch list. Reportedly, he asked his supporters to block the opposition parties' candidates from filing the nominations during the 2018 panchayat elections in West Bengal. Anubrata was accused by the BJP of orchestrating the murder of a BJP worker named Bapi Ankure during the 2021 state assembly elections. The BJP filed a complaint against Anubrata with the ECI and said that Anubrata wanted to dissuade the opposition parties from contesting elections by creating "an environment of fear." Anubrata also threatened a police officer of facing dire consequences should he or his men try to obstruct Anubrata from doing what he wants. The CBI has also linked his name with the burning of eight people during the Bogtui massacre that took place in March 2022. [6]Hindustan Times • Illegally exporting cattle to Bangladesh and the lottery scam: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against Anubrata Mondal, Enamul Haque, his bodyguard Saigal Hossain, and a BSF Commandant named Satish Kumar in 2020. According to the charge sheet, Anubrata and the other accused were a part of an illegal cattle smuggling operation through which they earned crores of rupees. Despite giving repeated summons to Anubrata from 2020 till August 2022, he failed to appear before the CBI. In August 2022, the CBI arrested him on the charges of non-cooperation from his residence and was then presented before a CBI court in Asansol. He was later sent to the Asansol correction centre. [7]India Today [8]The Hindu In an interview, a CBI official said, "We have arrested him for non-cooperation in the investigation into the cattle smuggling case. We have found Mondal’s direct involvement in the scam. We will question him today and take necessary action as per law." The CBI made another revelation in November 2022 when its investigative team found out that Anubrata converted black money into white money through the lottery. The CBI claimed that in December 2021, Anubrata bought a lottery ticket worth Rs 1 crore from a Nagaland-based company. After he was declared the winner of the lottery, Rs 51 lacs were deposited in several instalments into his daughter's bank account. [9]Hindustan Times In an interview, a member of the CBI's investigative team said, "Mondal tried to regularise the proceeds from cattle smuggling through some lottery prize money. The investigation is going on to find out whether and how he and his daughter won lottery prizes more than once." In November 2022, the father of Sheikh Noor Ali, a resident from Birbhum who had won Rs 1 crore in a lottery, accused Anubrata of forcefully taking the lottery ticket from his son. According to him, Anubrata had struck a deal with Sheikh Noor Ali for buying his ticket for Rs 83 lakhs; however, Anubrata later refused to pay the full amount. Later, Bapi Ganguly, a lottery ticket seller in Birbhum, also supported the claims of Noor Ali's father following which he was summoned by the CBI for questioning. There, Bapi told the CBI that Anubrata had promised to pay Rs 83 lakhs to Noor Ali, but he only deposited Rs 5 to 7 lakhs in his bank account. He also claimed that Anubrata threatened Noor when he asked him for the remaining amount and even sent some goons to his house who threatened him of facing dire consequences should he complain to the police. Noor later fled Birbhum with his family for a week, fearing for their lives. [10]Firstpost After the interrogation, Bapi told the media, "The prized lottery was actually sold by the Rahul Lottery Agency of Bolpur. Retailer Kalam Sheikh sold it to Noor Ali (a resident of a village near Bolpur). Anubrata Mondal had purchased the lottery ticket (from Noor) for Rs 83 lakh. Noor Ali had told the truth. He is not lying to anyone. The sale of the lottery ticket was mediated by Biswajyoti Banerjee (a Trinamul councillor in Bolpur) and I personally checked whether the ticket was genuine or not as they had no experience in the lottery business at all." On the charges of laundering the money earned through cattle smuggling, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Anubrata in November 2022. [11]India Today On 30 July 2024, the Supreme Court of India granted him bail. • Allegations of appointing his relatives as government teachers: An unknown petitioner filed a petition in Calcutta High Court in 2022. He claimed that when Anubrata was serving in the West Bengal Rural Development Authority as its chairman, he appointed his daughter, his brother, and other known associates as primary teachers, without them having cleared their Teacher's Eligibility Test (TET). Anubrata, however, claimed that his daughter was appointed as a teacher in a government-run primary school after she cleared her TET exam, and he has the required proof for it as well. [12]News18 In an interview, while talking about it, he said, "She has passed the exam and has a certificate too. The court has not summoned her [Sukanya]. It has just asked her to present her documents."
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Widower
Affairs/Girlfriends	Chhabi Mondal
Family
Wife/Spouse	Chhabi Mondal (died in 2020 due to cancer)
Children	Daughter- Sukanya Mondal (primary school teacher, businesswoman)
Parents	Father- Kripasindhu Mondal (businessman) Mother- Pushparani Mondal (passed away in 2019)
Siblings	Brother- Sumit Mondal (primary school teacher) Sister- Shibani Ghosh Note: He is the eldest among 5 siblings
Money Factor
Salary/Income (approx.)	Rs 1,44,90,090 [13]Anandabazar Patrika
Assets/Properties	In a chargesheet filed by the CBI, Anubrata has more than 24 properties registered to his name. In Birbhum, West Bengal, Anubrata owns farmland spanning 31.2 acres of land. The CBI claims that he has bought more than six "unnamed" petrol pump in West Bengal and has hundreds of dumper trucks registered in his name. [14]ABP [15]The Pioneer As of December 2022, he has acquired more than 240 acres of land. [16]Bangla Hunt

Some Lesser Known Facts About Anubrata Mondal

• Before entering politics, Anubrata used to run a small grocery shop in his hometown. He also earned money as a fish merchant.

• His affiliation with the Indian National Congress (INC) began in the early 1990s after he met Mamata Banerjee, who, back then, was the state Youth Congress president.

• Anubrata was among the few politicians who left Congress when Mamata Banerjee left in 1998 due to growing indifference between her and the senior Congress leaders.
  

  Anubrata Mondal with Rajiv Gandhi during a meeting

• Anubrata became a member of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) in 1998.

• Anubrata was appointed the President of the TMC in Birbhum district in 2000 and has organised several successful elections campaigns for the TMC in Birbhum, resulting in landslide victories for the TMC candidates from Birbhum.
  

  Anubrata Mondal during a rally in West Bengal

• Anubrata once told the media that he does not aspire to hold any position in the cabinet ministry; therefore, he has never contested any elections. In an interview, while talking about it, he said,
  

  I never contested general or assembly elections as I had never been greedy to become a minster. I don’t want it. I am happy working for the party as a loyalist.”

  

  Mamata Banerjee with Anubrata Mondal

• Ever since the TMC came to power in West Bengal in 2011, his power as a politician has reportedly increased manifold.

• Anubrata has served as a chairman of several state government-owned enterprises like the West Bengal State Rural Development Agency (WBSRDA) and Tarapith Development Authority.

• On 9 April 2013, Anubrata assumed the position of director of the Mayurakshi Cotton Mills that he had founded in 1990 in Birbhum, West Bengal. According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, he also owns more than 16 rice mills in West Bengal and has acquired 2500 shares in ANM Agrochem Foods.

• Anubrata assumed the post of director at the West Bengal Swarojgar Corporation Limited, a government-run public unlisted company, on 26 November 2021.

• Anubrata was included in the TMC’s national working committee in February 2022.

• Anubrata authored Khela Hobe, a book which was published in 2022.
  

  Anubrata Mondal during the launch event of his book Khela Hobe

• The CBI claimed that from 2013 to 2022, he bought properties worth Rs 6.5 crore. He sold properties worth Rs 2.19 crore from 2015 to 2021.