People in West Bengal’s Birbhum area knew Minar Mondal, a former government bus driver close to a Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, was rich, but they did not know he was rich beyond their imagination. Bundles of cash as high as ₹28.5 crore and 15kg gold were recovered in a raid by police on his house on Wednesday, July 29.
After the seizure of massive cash and other assets in raids on the houses of former TMC-era education minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee (₹50 crore in cash and over 5 kg gold) in July 2022, this is the next high quantity of undeclared wealth seized by the state police.
The cash was kept in 35 sacks and the gold in solid biscuit form in Minar Mandal’s nondescript house, said police on Thursday. The gold bars recovered were valued at nearly ₹21.5 crore at current market prices. Minar Mandal was arrested after the raid on his house.
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Police officials deployed at the site during the raid were shocked to see the sacks full of cash. They brought in five machines to count the cash and five trunks to store them, said sources. It took 15 hours to complete the counting of the cash.
Minar Mondal is the brother-in-law of Tulu Mondal (Mohd Nazibuddin), allegedly a close aide of TMC leader and Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal. Tulu Mondal, a stone trader in Birbhum district, is absconding, said sources.
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The raid, which started late on Tuesday, July 28, was part of an ongoing crackdown by West Bengal government on illegal mining and smuggling of sand in Birbhum district.
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BJP leader Keya Ghosh said on Thursday that nearly ₹70 crore has been recovered from Minar Mandal’s house. “Tulu Mandal is like a blood brother to Trinamool. It is said that over ₹100 crore was spent on his daughter’s wedding. They built a palatial venue and flew in film stars from Bollywood and Tollywood, a level of opulence even industrialists struggle to match. But what is his industry? He is part of the sand and stone mafia,” said Ghosh. 
