Prateek Tanmay
3 min readKolkataUpdated: Jul 30, 2026 12:13 PM IST
At daybreak Thursday, the West Bengal Police loaded six trunks with cash worth crores of rupees and gold into a van and two confiscated cupboards in a utility transport vehicle after an intensive, 48-hour raid at a house in Birbhum district.
In one of the largest recent financial recoveries, the Birbhum police seized approximately Rs. 28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold bars, concealed inside heavy trunks and cupboards.
After seizing the money and the gold, the Birbhum police arrested Muhammad Minar Mandal, a former government bus driver and a relative of Muhammad Najibuddin alias Tulu Mandal, a prominent local businessman who is said to be closely associated with senior Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal.
48-hour search ends with Rs 28.5 crore cash, gold recovery and arrest in Bengal
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“The Birbhum police received information about a huge amount of illegally amassed cash and gold belonging to an organised syndicate led by Muhammad Najibuddin,” Vidit Raj Bhundesh, Superintendent of Police, said.
“During the search at the house of Muhammad Minar Mandal, the police recovered approximately Rs 28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold bars of various denominations. Necessary legal formalities are underway along with the registration of an FIR,” Bhundesh added.
According to police sources, Bhundesh said that during preliminary questioning, Minar Mandal confessed that the money and gold belonged to Tulu Mandal’s illegal organised syndicate.
How a robbery probe led to recovery
The operation stemmed from a breakthrough in a robbery investigation. On Tuesday, Mohammad Bazar police arrested seven suspects: Arjun Lohar, Sheikh Giyasuddin, Sheikh Farjuddin, Pulok Saha, Sheikh Firoz Ahmed, Abhinav Bhatsa, and Rabi Kumar Gupta.
After a court remanded them to two days of police custody Wednesday, investigators questioned the accused, whose disclosures led police to Minar Mandal’s residence in Deucha late Tuesday.
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Minar Mandal was formally taken into custody from his house Thursday morning and will be produced before a court later in the day.
When reporters questioned Minar as he was being escorted to a police vehicle, he declined to comment. His son, meanwhile, claimed he was unaware of the cash allegedly hidden inside their family home.
Addressing the media Wednesday, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari issued a stern warning against systemic corruption and targeted the previous administration.
“Our government will maintain a zero-tolerance policy against corrupt individuals. No one involved in corruption will be spared. Anyone who has amassed wealth through wrongdoing, looting public assets, or colluding with the then-ruling political party will face the full weight of the law,” Adhikari said.
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