Absconding Quarry Owner Tulu Mondal Moves Calcutta HC Seeking Protection From Arrest

Absconding stone quarry owner Tulu Mondal, also known as Mohammad Nazibuddin, has approached the Calcutta High Court seeking protection from coercive police action, including arrest, in connection with the recovery of cash and gold worth around ₹50 crore linked to him. The plea comes as investigators continue to tighten the net around the Birbhum businessman, whose assets worth nearly ₹220 crore have already been frozen.

The petition was filed before the single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya, which has admitted the matter. The court is yet to fix a date for hearing the case.

HC petition seeks protection from arrest

Mondal has been absconding since last month after Birbhum Police recovered ₹28 crore in cash and 15 kilograms of gold biscuits, estimated to be worth around ₹22 crore, from the residence of his relative, Minar Mondal.

During questioning, Minar Mondal allegedly told police that the seized cash and gold belonged to Tulu Mondal and that he had been asked to keep them in his custody. Following the recovery, police sealed Tulu Mondal’s residence in Suri, Birbhum district.

The High Court will now decide whether to grant him interim protection from coercive action while the investigation continues.

Assets worth ₹220 crore frozen

According to the latest information, authorities have frozen assets worth around ₹220 crore linked to Tulu Mondal. The total includes the cash and gold recovered from his relative’s residence.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also begun the process of launching its own investigation and is collecting information from the Birbhum district police.

Rise under Trinamool Congress scrutiny

Investigators have also focused on Mondal’s rapid financial rise. Once a daily wage labourer, he is said to have amassed significant wealth during the previous Trinamool Congress administration in Birbhum while being considered a close associate of former district Trinamool Congress president Anubrata Mondal.

Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and later by the Enforcement Directorate in the multi-crore cattle smuggling case. He has since spent several months in jail and is currently associated with the rebel majority faction of the Trinamool Congress led by expelled MLA Ritabrata Banerjee.

Name had surfaced in cattle smuggling probe

Tulu Mondal had also come under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner in 2022 after his name surfaced during the cattle smuggling investigation. Central agency officials had conducted raids at his residence and office at the time.

With both the state police and the Enforcement Directorate now pursuing parallel investigations, the outcome of his plea before the Calcutta High Court is expected to play a key role in the next phase of the case.