SURI: Two trunkloads of cash, gold bars and biscuits worth around Rs 21.5 crore, and bundles of currency that crossed Rs 28.5 crore — the staggering haul from a two-storey house in Birbhum’s Deucha village has put the spotlight on a retired government bus driver, his alleged role in the stone trade and his links to influential stone trader Tulu Mondal.Birbhum police raided the house of Minar Mondal on Wednesday and seized the cash and gold during a search that began in the early hours. By late evening, the cash recovered had crossed Rs 28.5 crore, with bundles of notes still being counted.Five cash-counting machines and several gold-weighing scales were deployed to assess the seizure.The scale of the haul has now left investigators probing a basic question: How did a retired government bus driver come to possess cash and gold worth around Rs 50 crore?Police officials said Minar, the owner of the house and a relative of Tulu Mondal, and his son were being questioned about the source of the wealth. Investigators were also trying to ascertain whether the duo had stashed away cash or gold at any other location.The raid was supervised by several senior district police officers, including ASP Nilesh Gaikwad and DSP (law and order) Kunal Mukherjee.But the probe is also turning towards Bengal’s stone belt and the alleged role Minar played there after his retirement from government service.Sources said Tulu Mondal, a prominent stone trader in the district, was a stone revenue collector during the tenure of the Trinamool government. After retiring from his government job, Minar was allegedly assigned a key responsibility by Tulu.“Minar was in charge of collecting revenue from stone-filled trucks at one of the seven toll gates in the quarry belt of Deucha. Investigators are trying to find out whether he had siphoned off a chunk of the money meant for the govt coffers,” a source said.The alleged revenue collection role has emerged as a key line of inquiry as investigators seek to establish the source of the massive cash and gold haul.Tulu was considered a close associate of Anubrata Mondal, once a Trinamool strongman in the district. He was accused of operating illegal stone quarries and implicated in a cattle smuggling case.The Enforcement Directorate had raided his home and office in 2022. Within 48 hours of the raid, the district police arrested him in a murder case. He was released on bail and allegedly went into hiding after the assembly poll results were declared on May 4.The seizure has meanwhile triggered a political exchange.CM Suvendu Adhikari thanked police for Wednesday’s operation and posted on X, “The work of our law enforcement agencies in taking strict action against the sand mafia is commendable. Birbhum Police conducted a major raid at the hideout of illegal operator Tulu Mondal — alias Mohammad Najibuddin — in the Mohammad Bazar police station area.”He further wrote, “Let it be unequivocally clear: no person with a chequered past who has amassed wealth through the exploitation of public resources and hobnobbing with the then ruling political party will be spared.”Kunal Ghosh, spokesperson for the Trinamool faction loyal to Mamata Banerjee, said that while those responsible for such crimes should not be spared, the government should also investigate netas who allegedly patronised such activities.“I hear that those responsible for such crimes were closely linked to netas who now brand themselves as ‘good Trinamool’. I will urge the govt to delve deeper and identify those who shielded such criminals and benefited from their illegal earnings,” he said.
