Kolkata, Dec 11: West Bengal Islamic Foundation of India, the trust formed for the proposed Babri Mosque at Beldanga in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, by the now-suspended Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir, has received donations to the tune of Rs 3.50 crore.

The manual counting of currencies collected as cash donations filled in 11 trunks was completed on Wednesday night, and the total amount accumulated was Rs 87 lakh, confirmed a close confidant of Kabir.

At the same time, the online donations deposited at the designated bank account of the said trust, through the scanning of the QR code, have reached Rs 2.63 crore as of Wednesday night.

It was learnt that from Sunday afternoon until night, the money from a total of four boxes was counted. A sum of Rs 37,33,000 was collected in cash. On Monday afternoon, the counting of money resumed using machines.

The counting of the remaining seven boxes was completed by Tuesday.

The total amount of donations collected from these boxes reached Rs 38,34,000. In total, Rs 75,67,523 were counted from 11 boxes and one sack.

However, the donations did not stop coming in. More money received from various places was counted on Wednesday. That amount is also close to Rs 11 lakh. In other words, so far, approximately Rs 87 lakh have been collected in cash alone.

At the same time, Humayun Kabir also arranged to deposit money online, keeping a specific QR code. It is reported that Rs 2,62,00,000 have been deposited so far in the bank account specified as the trust of Babri Masjid.

Sources close to Humayun claim that the amount of donations will increase, as almost every day someone is helping to build a mosque. Those who are giving large sums of money, their names are kept secret for now.

Humayun’s expectation of donations has exceeded expectations, said sources. The trust authority wants to quickly transfer the cash from the box to the bank account.

It was broadcast live to maintain transparency in the process of counting money.

A separate house is also being arranged to keep this money. There will be all security arrangements, including CCTV cameras, to keep an eye on the cash.

A controversy erupted over Kabir’s decision to lay the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid styled mosque in Murshidabad district’s Beldanga.

On December 4, Trinamool Congress leadership suspended Kabir from the party for anti-party activities. Despite his suspension, Kabir went ahead with his programme on December 6 and laid the foundation stone for the mosque.

Humayun said that the construction of the Babri Masjid will start in the first week of February in Beldanga. The Quran will be recited by one lakh voices a day before the construction of the mosque begins.

Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed at the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday seeking a direction to stop the construction of Babri Masjid. The matter is likely to be heard next week.

A sensational theft aboard the Siddheshwar Express has shocked passengers and police alike, after jewellery worth ₹5.50 crore was allegedly stolen by a group of masked suspects who were seen getting off the train at Lonavala railway station.

According to railway police, CCTV footage shows five to six masked individuals carrying two trolley bags believed to contain the stolen jewellery. Their covered faces have made identification difficult.

One person has been detained by the Railway Crime Branch, and his role in the case is currently under scrutiny.

The complainant, Abhaykumar Jain, a resident of Goregaon, Mumbai, had travelled to Solapur with his daughter Tanishka, carrying jewellery worth several crores.

Police said Tanishka had urged her father to install GPS tracking on their luggage, but the advice was ignored.

Jain sold part of the jewellery in Solapur and was returning with the remaining ornaments when the theft occurred.

The theft came to light only after the train journey ended. Jain then filed a complaint at the Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) station.
Both the Kalyan GRP and the Railway Crime Branch are jointly investigating the case.

Preliminary investigation suggests that the suspects may be residents of Mandha in Solapur district.

Police believe the thieves likely had prior knowledge of the jewellery and Jain’s travel details, hinting at the possibility of insider information or prior surveillance.

Investigators are examining CCTV footage from multiple stations between Solapur and Mumbai, analysing the suspects’ movement patterns and potential links across districts.

The probe is ongoing and efforts to identify the masked thieves have been intensified.

Mumbai, Dec 10: The Mumbai Airport Customs in 15 cases over the past eight days have seized smuggled drugs worth ₹43 crore, gold worth ₹1.51 crore and diamonds valued at ₹87 lakh.

According to the Customs, during December 03 till December 10 they detected ten cases of smuggling of hydroponic weed.

“Based on spot profiling, a total of 37.26 kg of suspected hydroponic weed valued at approximately ₹37.26 crore in the illicit market were recovered under seven cases from nine passengers who had arrived from Bangkok via various flights and were arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act,” said a Customs officer.

“The modus operandi used by the accused in these cases were that the passengers attempted to smuggle hydroponic weed by concealing the contraband inside the trolley bags and using the baggage tags of another flight to avoid detection by Customs Officers. In some cases, the passengers attempted to smuggle hydroponic weed by concealing the contraband inside the lumps of tamarind to avoid detection,” the officer said.

In three other cases, based on specific intelligence, a total of 6 kg of suspected hydroponic weed, valued at approximately ₹6 crore in the illicit market were recovered from three passengers who had arrived from Bangkok via various flights and were arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act.

“Other than the NDPS cases, four gold smuggling cases were booked in which a total of 1,256 grams of gold valued at ₹1.51 crore were recovered and seized from four passengers. In one case, diamonds valued at ₹87.75 lakh were recovered and seized from one passenger,” the officer said.