Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has detected illegal coal trade in Assam and Meghalaya, besides a thriving syndicate minting money at the rate of around Rs 1.27 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh per truck from the mine owners for ‘border clearance’ of coal-laden trucks.
The Shillong Sub Zonal Office of ED conducted searches on Thursday at 15 premises in Jadigittim, Nongalbibra, Jagigopha (Bongaigaon), Margherita (Tinsukia) and Guwahati under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with illegal coal mining and illegal coke plants running in Meghalaya. During the search, the ED team found digital devices and incriminating documents, including diaries/ledgers. They recorded statements of key persons who revealed that despite the ban on mining in the last decade, illegal rat-hole mining was being rampantly done under inhumane conditions and without any safety measures for the illegal miners.
The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered in Meghalaya under various sections of the IPC, 1860; the MMDR Act, 2015; the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the Explosive Substances Act, 1883; and the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988.
During the search, the ED team found that managers, sardars and labourers were engaged in illegal coal mining in the area of Jadigittim, South Garo Hills, using primitive tools. The team noticed that around 20 mines are being run illegally in the Era Aning and Goreng areas. A few of the labourers were handed over to local police to investigate the matter on suspicion of their identities/nationality.
The ED investigation further revealed that a syndicate having persons from Meghalaya and Assam is in charge of ensuring that the trucks containing illegal coal clear the borders of Meghalaya and enter Assam without any checking or restrictions where papers were prepared to show this as legally mined coal. The syndicate used to charge Rs 1.27 lakh to Rs 1.50 lakh per truck from the mine owners in the name of commission/patronage in cash. The illegally mined coal was stored at depots at Jogighopa in the Bongaigaon district in Assam. According to ED sources, thereafter, coal is transported to different industries like the cement industry, brick kilns, the iron and steel industry and illegal coke plants. Some part of the illegally mined coal was directly transported to the illegal coke plant from the depot in the north-eastern region.
The ED team further revealed that the persons who operate the depot at Jogighopa, Assam, are also involved in the business of fake bills/invoices, through which the illegally mined coal is shown to be purchased from some legally operated mines in Assam, thereby making it look like a genuine business transaction. Most of the transactions take place in cash through these operators, and fake bills/invoices for the same are generated to give them the colour of genuine transactions.
The ED team further revealed that the cash so generated in the process was collected by the syndicate and was being stored at the places of the cash handlers. These cash handlers were searched, and diaries containing cash in/out were also seized. It was further revealed that the coal mine owners and the syndicate people used to coordinate with illegal coal mine operators in Margherita in Tinsukia to make it appear to be mined from legally sourced mines.
From the documents seized and the statements of the managers, mine owners and labourers, it was revealed that 5-7 trucks were loaded every everyday from each mine. Each truck carries 12-16 tonnes of illegally mined coal. So, the moderate estimate of the illegal coal mined per day from the Era Aning and Goreng area of South Garo Hills is around 1,200 tonnes per day. The mine owners used to get Rs 5,000-10,000 per truck as their net profit after taking care of all the expenses.
During the search, cash of Rs. 1.58 crore, digital devices like laptops and mobile phones and two high-end vehicles suspected to be purchased out of the proceeds of crime were seized.
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