CISF recovers pilfered coal in Jharkhand, Bengal

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel has recovered more than 428 metric tonnes (MT) of coal during a five-day special operation to check the pilferage and theft of the fossil fuel from mines in Jharkhand and West Bengal, officials said on Thursday.

Hand-picked jawans and Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) deployed by the paramilitary covered multiple acres of coalfields belonging to Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) and Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in the two adjoining States. The CISF is entrusted with guarding the country’s major coal fields.

The Union Government recently authorised the force as a designated agency to undertake search and seizure operations under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to check coal theft from the coalfields under its jurisdiction.

“The operation, conducted between July 4 and 8 under the Union Government’s ‘zero coal leakage’ initiative, resulted in the recovery of 428.34 metric tonnes of illegally mined, stored, or transported coal, the registration of four FIRs, and the seizure of a heavy duty dump truck, 13 motorcycles and other equipment used in illegal mining and transportation of the country’s precious energy source,” a senior CISF officer said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed illegal coal mining and theft in the country on July 5. There, he directed the CISF to enforce a “zero coal leakage plan” to plug illegal mining by forming quick action teams and setting up a multi-layered security arrangement in vulnerable areas, besides ensuring prompt action against illegal miners.

The officer said the force deployed various tools, including teams tasked with gathering specific human intelligence, drones, transit-route monitoring, surprise inspections, verification of transportation documents, inspection of coal depots and weighbridges, and using GPS-enabled documentation for the operation.

Major CISF units involved in the operation included the one at BCCL Dhanbad, where raids were conducted in Katras, Block-II, Basantimata (Kargil), Kustore, Sijua, Jealgora, Barora, Govindpur and NTST areas.