A team of district police busted a gang of mafia operating from various places and supplying coal to Bihar, UP and other parts of the country following raids on Bengabad on NH and on NH-2 (GT Road). Over 150 tonnes of coal being carried in four trucks, one 709 truck and 30 bullock carts were seized in the six-hour operation and 10 persons were arrested.
SDPO, Giridih, Jit Wahan Oraon, who led the raiding team, said the gang was transporting the coal to Varanasi in UP and Dehri-on-Sone in Bihar through fake challans. "Although on previous occasion, a large number of trucks carrying illegal coal being transported on fake documents were seized, this time in a swift operation we have succeeded in catching 10 people who were responsible for the movement of coal through transport."
After seizing the five trucks including 709 truck and 30 bullock cart loaded with more than 150 tonnes of coal, police have located an office of the racketeers at Bengabad, about 5 kms away from same police station on Dhanbad-Bengabad road, and seized papers, transport challans and loading advices from coalfields with the hologram of BCCL and CCL from there.
"On verification, police found all the papers were forged and through these, the consignment of coal was dispatched to various parts of the country illegally, forcing the State to incur huge revenue loss amounting to several hundred crores of rupees," said Giridih SP, Surendra Kumar Jha.
Police also seized various fake papers and arrested 10 persons of whom six belonged to different villages in Giridih and some from Bihar. The arrested men were identified as Mahesh Yadav,Chhote Lal Yadav,Vijay Yadav,Pramod Verma,Sanichar Rawut,Lal Deo Yadav and four others.
The SP said the quality of papers of fake challans, in which the official hologram of CCL and BCCL were embossed was so good that no one could doubt about the credibility of the documents. "This was the biggest-ever operation against the coal mafia in this belt in which police have not only exposed the modus operandi of the illegal miners but have also sent a signal to other racketeers of the country who were minting crores of rupees from the illegal trading of coal supplied from the Dhanbad coal belt of BCCL in West Bengal which had no other route but had to pass through the police stations located in Giridih District,” he said.