Mountains of cash & gold, 242 vehicles, 7 houses, 2 petrol pumps: Suvendu lists Tulu assets, blames Mamata for stone baron’s meteoric rise | Kolkata News
KOLKATA: Rs 150 crore in cash, gold and assets including 242 vehicles, two petrol pumps, seven houses, a farmhouse, and counting. The list constitutes only a part of Birbhum stone mining baron Tulu Mondal’s properties. Reading out the details of the fugitive illegal stone baron’s holdings on Friday, CM Suvendu Adhikari blamed former CM Mamata Banerjee for the growth of Tulu – known to be a close associate of Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal – and said, “without her support, this could not have taken place”.Speaking at a news conference in Nabanna, Adhikari said illegal stone mining and smuggling from Birbhum alone had led to a revenue loss of nearly Rs 15,000 crore in the last 15 years.“Such siphoning of govt revenue… such a massive racket… can’t continue for years without the concurrence of the head of the administration. All were involved. Officials were allegedly told from the top not to touch Mondal. Without the support of former CM Mamata Banerjee, this could not have taken place. Institutional corruption happens only when the head of the institution encourages corruption.”Highlighting what he described as systemic institutional corruption, Adhikari said annual revenue from Birbhum’s stone mining sector had earlier stood at Rs 60–80 crore. After the new govt assumed office, he said, revenue collected in a month (May 11 to June 11) was Rs 83 crore and is now approaching Rs 100 crore a month.Cops have recovered Rs 50 crore – Rs 28.5 crore in cash and the rest in gold. Besides, Rs 53 lakh in cash, 268 grams of gold ornaments, 400 grams of silver and 23 grams of platinum jewellery were recovered from the premises of Tulu’s brother-in-law, Minar Mondal. In total, assets worth over Rs 150 crore was seized, the CM said.Authorities have also frozen bank accounts containing Rs 93 crore allegedly linked to Tulu.“We have seized around Rs 150 crore so far. In addition, the police have seized 242 vehicles, including luxury cars and 83 dumpers and trucks. Legal proceedings are on to confiscate 21 properties spread over nearly 300 bighas, including three stone quarries, two stone crushers, two petrol pumps, a farmhouse and seven houses,” the CM said.Cops have also recovered three currency-counting machines, a computer, two pen drives and a large number of allegedly fake delivery-cum-receipt (DCR) slips, transport challans and cheque books.Adhikari argued that the accumulation of such wealth – especially the vehicles and hundreds of bighas of land – could not have taken place without the knowledge or support of sections of the registration department, motor vehicles department, panchayats, land department and mining authorities.“Officials were forced to keep their eyes closed. As the then head of the govt, the ultimate responsibility lies with the former CM,” the CM said.While Minar has been arrested, five others, including chief accountant Pinaki De, assistant accountant Rakibul Islam and petrol pump manager Kausar, have been detained for questioning, Adhikari said and added that the CID, STF and central agencies were examining whether proceeds from alleged illegal mining operations were laundered abroad.Adhikari also cited the recent public auction of illegally mined sand allegedly abandoned by TMC netas in East Burdwan, saying it earned the state over Rs 13.5 crore.The CM added that Bengal’s revenue had risen by 12% in 10 weeks and expressed confidence that overall revenue would increase by at least 20% by the end of the current financial year.
