Cash and Gold Worth Over ₹40 Crore Seized from Stone Trader's Residence in Birbhum

PTI, July 29, 2026, Suri: In one of the biggest recoveries of suspected illegally amassed cash and gold since the ED's haul from properties linked to former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee's close aide four years ago, the police on Wednesday seized at least Rs 20 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold in Birbhum district.

Police said 14 gold bars weighing one kilogram each and 10 gold biscuits of 100 grams each, valued at around Rs 21.5 crore at current market prices, were recovered from the two-storey residence of Minar Mondal, a former government bus driver-turned-stone trader, at Deucha village.

The cash, packed inside multiple bags, was still being counted at the time of filing of this report and had already crossed Rs 20 crore, officers said.

Police identified Minar as the brother-in-law of absconding businessman Tullu Mondal alias Mohd Nazibuddin, who has substantial interests in Birbhum's stone quarrying business and whom Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari described as a "sand mafia" operator.

The recovery comes amid a wider crackdown on alleged illegal mining and revenue leakages in Birbhum, a district long under the scanner over allegations of illegal quarrying and organised crime linked to the stone trade.

A total of nearly Rs 50 crore in unaccounted cash, along with gold and foreign exchange, had been recovered from properties linked to Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, during Enforcement Directorate raids in July 2022 tied to the school jobs recruitment scam in the state.

Tullu had figured in the CBI's probe into the multi-crore cattle smuggling case.

In August 2022, the agency searched several of his properties, besides his office and godown in the Mohammad Bazar area of the district.

The Enforcement Directorate later summoned him to Delhi for questioning in November that year.

Within 48 hours of receiving the ED summons, Tullu was arrested by Birbhum police in connection with a murder case registered in October 2022.

A police source claimed that, after securing bail, he went into hiding following the declaration of the state election results in May this year.

Police said Tullu handled a significant portion of Birbhum's stone trade and was allegedly a close associate of Birbhum Trinamool Congress chief Anubrata Mondal, who was arrested by the CBI in the cattle smuggling case and, after getting bail, has joined the Ritabrata Banerjee-led dissident faction within the party.

Minar and his son were detained at the house during the search operation and were being questioned about possible additional locations where cash could have been stored, police said.

"Minar was in charge of one of the seven toll gates in the area through which trucks from stone quarries passed and collected revenue from the transporters. He is likely to have swindled a large volume of cash meant for government coffers, and this is a portion of that wealth the police have now recovered," a source said.

According to police, Minar was earlier employed as a driver with the North Bengal State Transport Corporation before quitting the job a few years ago to join his relative's stone business.

Earlier, highlighting what he termed "massive revenue leakage and illegal quarrying in the TMC era", the Chief Minister cited official figures from Birbhum to claim a sharp rise in revenue collection following intensified enforcement after the BJP came to power in the state.

Lauding Wednesday's operation, he wrote on X: "Commendable job by our law enforcement personnel for the crackdown on sand mafia," adding that the operation had resulted in the recovery of a large quantity of illegally amassed wealth.