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15 kg gold, Rs 20 crore in 35 sacks: Bengal police raid former bus driver
The gold and cash were found in the house of the brother-in-law of an influential stone trader in Bengal's Birbhum.
The Bengal police raided the house as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to the stone trade. (Express Photo/X/Suvendu Adhikari)
It took five cash-counting machines, five heavy tin trunks, and hours for the police to process what they found inside a modest house in the Birbhum district of West Bengal.
Police sources said they have so far recovered around 15 kg of gold biscuits and nearly Rs 20 crore in cash, packed in about 35 sacks, from the house of Minar Mondal, a former government bus driver and brother-in-law of influential stone trader Tulu Mondal.
Acting on a secret tip-off, the police raided Minar’s house in the Deucha area late Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities linked to the stone trade.
Commendable job by our Law Enforcement personnel for the crackdown on Sand Mafia.
Following a precise operation based on source based information, Birbhum Police conducted a major raid under Mohammad Bazar PS targeting the hideout of illegal sand mafia Tullu Mondal alias Mohd… pic.twitter.com/Ln4XJCWKKY
— Suvendu Adhikari (@SuvenduWB) July 29, 2026
“Five cash-counting machines were brought to the scene to count the huge amount of money. Additionally, five large tin trunks have been brought in to store the recovered cash. The counting process is currently underway,” a police officer said.
‘Vigilance and uncompromising action will continue’
The raid comes months after West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari warned of action against Tulu Mondal ahead of the Bengal Assembly elections.
Earlier Wednesday, Adhikari said in a post on X that the operation had uncovered “staggering amounts of illegally amassed wealth”.
“West Bengal Govt’s ongoing drive against the corrupt will go on with ‘Zero Tolerance Policy against Corruption’ as our guiding principle. 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. Public wealth belongs to the people, and those who loot it will face the full might of the law. Vigilance and uncompromising action will continue. Crackdown on mafia syndicates will go on,” he wrote in the post.
According to the police, Tulu Mondal’s agency was responsible for collecting revenue at entry gates to six stone industrial clusters across three districts in the state. Officials alleged that while around Rs 83 crore was expected to be collected every month, only Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore was deposited in the government treasury, with the remaining amount allegedly siphoned off.
However, these allegations are still under investigation.
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The police said they are now probing the matter and examining the source of the cash and gold recovered during the raid, as well as possible financial irregularities.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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