Kolkata, Aug 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Thursday rejected the petition of Tulu Mondal alias Mohammad Najibuddinan, an absconding stone quarry owner from Birbhum district of West Bengal, for interim protection from coercive police action, including arrest, in a case registered against him where he is accused of illegally accumulating huge wealth.
A “Hulia” (a court‑issued notice or warrant containing a description of a fugitive suspect) and a red-corner notice have been issued against him.
Thereafter, Tulu, from an undisclosed location, moved the petition through his counsel at Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Sougata Bhattacharya, seeking interim protection from coercive police action.
However, on Thursday, Justice Bhattacharya dismissed the petition and compared Tulu with Indrajit (Meghanad) of Ramayana. Justice Bhattacharya observed that Tulu was operating like Meghanad by keeping an eye on everything from behind the clouds.
Tulu’s counsel argued that keeping cash and gold at home was not a crime under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “A case could be filed under the Income Tax Act in the matter,” he argued.
Thereafter, Justice Bhattacharya observed that the money involved was quite massive and if there was an objection to the sections imposed in the case, the petitioner’s counsel could make an application to the magistrate.
Justice Bhattacharya also observed that the court felt the investigation into this crime should continue, and it would not be right to interfere with the investigation process.
The state police submitted a confidential report in the case on Thursday. The Additional Advocate General Bilbad Bhattacharya also requested the judge to ensure the report was not leaked elsewhere. The judge read the report.
Mondal came under the scanner of both the Birbhum District Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after cash worth Rs 28 crore and 15 kilograms of gold with an estimated market value of around Rs 22 crore were recovered earlier this month from the residence of his close relative, Minar Mondal.
During interrogation, Minar admitted that the cash and gold recovered from his residence belonged to Tulu and that he was only entrusted with the task of keeping them in his possession.
Since Tulu has been absconding, the cops brought out a “Hulia” from a district court in Birbhum last week and subsequently issued a red‑corner notice against him.
Tulu, who started his life as a daily wage earner, witnessed a meteoric rise in his fortune during the previous Mamata Banerjee‑led Trinamool Congress regime as a close confidant of Anubrata Mondal, the erstwhile district president of Trinamool in Birbhum.
Mondal, who earlier spent months behind bars after being arrested first by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and then by the ED in connection with the multi‑crore cattle smuggling scam, is currently with the rebel-majority faction in Trinamool led by Ritabrata Banerjee.
Besides the state police, the ED has begun the preparatory process to start a probe against Tulu. The central agency officials are currently collecting information from the Birbhum District Police in the matter.
Tulu Mondal’s name had also come up in the 2022 cattle smuggling case. He was under the ED’s watch at that time, and the central agency investigators raided his house and office.
Source: IANS
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