New Delhi: In a major crackdown on the coal Mafia in the eastern part of the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation Saturday raided more than 45 places in four states, ETV Bharat has learnt.
“The CBI has today conducted searches at 45 locations in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in a case pertaining to illegal mining and theft of coal,” said a CBI official.
He said the raids pertain to a case registered at anti-corruption bureau Kolkata yesterday.
“The case has been registered against two general managers of Eastern Coalfields Limited, three security officials of the ECL and a private person Anup Majhi alias Lala,” the source told ETV Bharat.
Anup Majhi is a notorious coal mafia don in West Bengal who has been running a racket of illegal mining and sale of coal worth thousands of crores of rupees.
Last week, a joint team of the income tax department, enforcement directorate and the central bureau of investigation more than 20 locations linked to Anup Majhi in West Bengal and other states and recovered huge amounts of cash.
Eastern Coalfields Limited is a subsidiary of state-owned Coal India Limited, the Central PSU which is engaged in mining and sale of coals in the country.
The source confirmed to ETV Bharat that the case is also against some other unknown officials of the Eastern Coalfields Limited, Indian Railways, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and other private persons.
The case pertains to illegal mining and theft of coal from the leased coal mines, said an official.
“The case of illegal mining and theft of coal pertains to the two coal mines - Kunustoria and Kajora areas,” the official told ETV Bharat.
Kunustoria and Kajora areas, home to several coal mines, are the two operational areas of Eastern Coalfields Limited located in the state of West Bengal. While Kunustoria is located in Asansol subdivision of West Bardhaman district, Kajaro mine is located in Durgapur subdivision of the same district in the state.
Case against ECL, CISF, Railway officials (H2)
The case of illegal theft and mining of coal from the two collieries of the Eastern Coalfields Limited was registered by the ACB Kolkata, which has jurisdiction over all the districts of West Bengal and Sikkim.
While the CISF, a central paramilitary force, is responsible for the security and safety of Central PSUs and airports across the country including Delhi Metro Rail Network, Indian Railways transports the coal mined by the Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries such as Eastern Coalfields Limited to power plants across the country.
Registration of the case against unknown officials of Indian Railways and the CISF implies that the agency suspects a wider conspiracy that is not only limited to the illegal mining and theft of coal at the two collieries.
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