Kolkata, July 30 -- At a time when a Birbhum district court remanded Md. Minar Mandal to 10 days of police custody on Thursday following overnight interrogation, police seized a large number of documents from a farmhouse belonging to former government bus conductor Tullu Mondal, alias Md. Nazibuddin.
Following the recovery of Rs 28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold bars from Minar's residence in Deucha, the investigation has widened into a multi-agency manhunt.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided his farmhouse in the Nahidori area of Suri on Thursday. As officers reached the premises, they noticed a car leaving the farmhouse in haste. The vehicle was intercepted by residents on suspicion.
During a search of the car, investigators recovered a large number of documents. Initial interrogation of the driver revealed that he had been instructed to remove the documents from the farmhouse. Tullu's manager, Parthasarathi Thakur, reportedly admitted that he was removing the documents on the instructions of his employer. However, he claimed that he had not been told where the documents were to be delivered before police detained him.
Tullu, a close associate of senior TMC leader Anubrata Mondal, is also under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the ongoing cattle smuggling probe. He was earlier questioned by the central agency following a raid at his residence. He is currently absconding and is suspected to have fled the country. Reacting to the developments, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that some people were trying to malign Mamata Banerjee by linking her to the incident.
He said the matter should be investigated thoroughly and added that it should also be examined whether any of the "newly turned good TMC" leaders had any connection with the case.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.