15 kg gold, Rs 28.5 crore cash haul in West Bengal leads to arrest of stone trader aide Minar Mondal

Birbhum Police on Thursday arrested the manager and brother-in-law of absconding stone trader Tullu Mondal after Rs 28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold was recovered from his residence in West Bengal. The case marks one of the state's biggest seizures of suspected illegally amassed assets in recent years. The police carried night-long search operations for cash and gold recovery, deploying five cash-counting machines and several gold-weighing scales to assess the haul.

"We have recovered Rs 28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold. Tullu Mondal's manager and brother-in-law Minar Mondal has been apprehended. His house has been sealed," Birbhum SP VR Bhundesh told reporters, as quoted by PTI.

Also read: Rs 21.5 crore gold, Rs 28.5 crore cash recovered from bus driver's house in West Bengal

Police reached Tullu Mondal's residence

Birbhum Police, accompanies by central forces, reached the residence of Tullu Mondal, where a search operation was likely to be carried out.

According to PTI, a team of police personnel was seen entering Tullu Mondal's house as central forces remained deployed outside the premises. Mondal has been absconding since the assembly poll results were declared in May.

The authorities used several metal trunks to transport the seized cash from the premises after completing the counting process. The money was initially taken to Mohammad Bazar police station in sealed condition and is likely to be deposited in a bank, police sources told the news agency.

15 kg gold: Recovery from Minar Mondal's house in Bengal

Police recovered 14 gold bars weighing 1 kg each and 10 gold biscuits of 100 grams each, valued at around Rs 21.5 crore at current market prices, from Minar Mondal's two-storey residence at Deucha village in West Bengal.

Minar was detained along with his son on Wednesday, following which, he was arrested on Thursday morning and is expected to be produced before a local court.

According to police officials cited in the report, Tullu Mondal, alias Mohd Nazibuddin, has substantial interests in Birbhum's stone quarrying business and has been described by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari as a "sand mafia" operator.

Adhikari hailed the cash and gold recovery operation as a major crackdown on the "sand mafia" and reiterated his government's "zero tolerance" policy against corruption and organised crime.

He had claimed that intensified enforcement had sharply increased revenue collections from Birbhum's stone quarrying sector after the BJP assumed office in West Bengal.

A substantial portion of the cash represented revenue has been allegedly siphoned off instead of being deposited into government coffers, the police suspects as the investigation continues to trace the source of the money and identify other persons linked to the alleged racket.

Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh commented the development saying that while those responsible for such crimes should not be spared, the government should also investigate political leaders who had allegedly patronised such activities.