Birbhum Police in West Bengal have initiated an intensive manhunt for Mohammad Nazibullah, known as Tulu Mondal, following a series of coordinated raids across his multiple luxury properties and business premises. The operation represents one of the region's most significant financial investigations in recent years, with authorities suspecting the businessman of involvement in cross-border smuggling operations and illicit financial activities tied to political circles.
Mondal is believed to have left India with his immediate family members, including his wife, daughter, son-in-law and at least one associated Trinamool Congress figure, before the West Bengal Assembly election results were declared. Police have issued a lookout notice for the fugitive businessman, with credible intelligence suggesting he relocated to Dubai where he continues managing his Birbhum-based operations remotely. The investigation has widened considerably as law enforcement agencies trace the origins of his substantial wealth accumulation.
The extent of Mondal's assets paints a picture of extraordinary financial resources concentrated in West Bengal's Birbhum district. Authorities have already frozen Rs93 crore across multiple bank accounts, seized 242 high-end vehicles from various residences, and initiated attachment procedures on 21 immovable properties valued at considerable sums. The asset seizure list encompasses seven residential houses, numerous farmhouses, parking facilities, two operational petrol stations, two stone-crushing operations and approximately 300 bighas of agricultural land scattered across the region.
A turning point in the investigation came with the arrest of Minar Mondal, the businessman's brother-in-law, during raids conducted at his Deucha village residence. Police recovered more than Rs50 crore in cash and gold from his home, with Minar subsequently confessing that the seized wealth belonged to Tulu Mondal and had accumulated through various syndicate operations. Court authorities remanded him to eight days of police custody to facilitate further interrogation. Separately, a 15-kilogramme cache of Swiss and Dubai-manufactured 24-carat gold bars was recovered during another search operation, adding weight to suspicions about international smuggling networks.
The investigation has also exposed connections to an earlier gold-smuggling case involving Abdul Barik Biswas, a local Trinamool Congress leader who accompanied Mondal during his alleged flight from India. Biswas was previously arrested by Customs authorities in 2014 for gold smuggling, with the Enforcement Directorate subsequently attaching properties valued at Rs20 crore in May 2015. Police records indicate that Biswas financed his smuggling operations using proceeds from cross-border cattle trafficking from Bangladesh, operating closely with Enamul Haque, an alleged transnational smuggling kingpin previously apprehended by the ED and Central Bureau of Investigation.
Public scrutiny of Mondal's activities intensified following his daughter's wedding celebration earlier this year, an event that reportedly cost Rs150 crore and became the focal point of intense state-level discussion. The function featured unprecedented extravagance, with international décor firms flown in to construct a venue replicating Udaipur's Taj Lake Palace in miniature. The bridegroom's arrival involved a chariot procession flanked by security personnel dressed as ancient Greek soldiers, while major roads in Mohammad Bazar remained closed to the public for two consecutive days, with access restricted exclusively to invited guests wearing specially designed security wristbands. The spectacle effectively demonstrated Mondal's accumulated wealth and his willingness to flaunt it publicly.
During the intensive 15-hour search operation at Mondal's primary Suri residence, police discovered considerable evidence of his lifestyle and operations. The luxury home contained amenities including a gymnasium, spa, swimming pool and entertainment lounge, features unusual for the region. Officers sealed the premises after domestic staff were dismissed and even Mondal's pet dog was removed from the property. Simultaneous raids targeted his ancestral home in Sonsthol, operational petrol stations and a truck parking facility in Mohammad Bazar, with teams led by DSP Surajit Mondal, DSP Sourav Bhattacharya and Suri Police Station Inspector-in-Charge Shailendra Upadhyay.
The immediate seizures from these operations included Rs8 lakh in cash and 150 grammes of gold ornaments, but more significantly, extensive documentation was recovered suggesting complex financial networks and cross-border operations. Police subsequently intercepted a vehicle transporting sacks of documents from one of Mondal's farmhouses, with the driver revealing that Mondal's manager had instructed him to conceal papers containing sand and stone transportation challans and commercial bills, indicating possible diversion of minerals from legitimate channels.
The investigation carries significant implications for understanding financial crime networks in eastern India and their alleged interconnections with political patronage. The scale of Mondal's asset accumulation, combined with his apparent proximity to ruling Trinamool Congress figures and the involvement of previously convicted smugglers, suggests a coordinated pattern of illicit financial activity spanning cattle trafficking, gold smuggling and potentially mineral extraction fraud. Regional analysts have noted that such investigations often uncover corruption networks extending into governance structures, raising questions about regulatory oversight in West Bengal's business environment.
Law enforcement authorities have indicated that asset attachment proceedings will continue as the investigation deepens into Mondal's financial dealings and the sources of his wealth. Birbhum Superintendent of Police Vidit Raj Bhundesh has stated that the ongoing raids are expected to yield additional evidence and possibly lead to further arrests among associates and family members. The case represents a broader effort by federal agencies including the Enforcement Directorate to dismantle smuggling networks that exploit India's porous eastern borders, though questions remain about why such extensive assets escaped regulatory scrutiny for so long.
