The Sub-Divisional Officer of Bermo, Rahul Kumar Sinha, along with the police from Mahuatard station conducted raids at a hard coke unit located in Pirla village of Gomia block jurisdiction and recovered 500 tonnes of illegal steam coal on Thursday. Two persons identified as Surendra Mahto and Rajesh Kumar were arrested in this connection.
It has been one of the biggest seizures of illegal coal in Bermo. On Thursday morning, the SDO raided the illegally-run Spy hard coke factory in Perla village. The factory was functioning with illegally mined coal and was being run by Surendra Mahto and Rajesh Kumar. Sources said the coal is carted on bicycle and tractors and dumped in the factory from where it is transported to other destinations like Dehri-on-Sone, Varanasi and Kanpur after paying commissions at police stations on the way.
With the sudden raids by the SDO, panic spread among the illegal traders in the locality. The SDO told The Pioneer that due to the illegal coal trade the CCl was incurring heavy losses. Top officials of the CCl have complained to the district administration as well as local police about frequent coal theft in their coal mines. CCl sources said that 10 to 20 trucks laden with stolen coal are smuggled every day from CCl mines in Bermo sub-division.