Lagatar24 Network
Dumka, Jan 18: The administrative crackdown against the mafia elements indulged in illegal coal mining from Shikaripara police station area which is going on in large scale, has again turned out to be an eyewash.
This is evident from the fact that the authorities failed to identify any of the culprits from nearly two dozen spots in Badalpada locality where instances of digging out coal were spotted by them on Monday, let alone the matter of the recovery of even handful of the black mineral or any equipment during a raid been conducted on such behest of the deputy commissioner Ravishankar Shukla.
The irony however can best be perceived by the ‘humble’ submission of the district mining officer Krishna Kumar Kisku that the information pertaining to the administrative move was leaked.
“All the workers engaged in coal digging managed to escape from the spots as the information regarding our move to conduct raids was anyhow leaked,” Kisku said to reporters admitting that the information system of coal mafias was stronger than that of the administration.
The Deputy SP Noor Mustafa and Circle Officer Raju Kamal also comprised the administrative team assisted by the joint forces of the SSB and district police.
Unfortunately, the situation persists notwithstanding the fact that the Shikaripara police station area is severely hit by the Naxal menace with several instances of violence triggered by the redwing outfit being reported previously.
Contrary to the subsequent administrative submissions of being clueless about the kingpins who engage local villagers in illegal mining activities through a well-established syndicate, it is widely believed that the stakeholders themselves provide them patronage.
This is further established by the fact that illegal exploration of coal resumes in the locality soon after the administrative drive as in the case of the recent one when an equal number of coalpits and tunnels were dozered in the same locality only two months back.
“The district administration has been well informed about those running the illegal mining and transportation of coal and other mineral items including stones and sand but none of them have ever been booked for having enjoyed political patronage and greasing their palms,” remarked a senior official preferring anonymity.
Recently, the state president of the Hindu Kranti Sena Prakash Chandra Gandharva had to bear the brunt for naming a senior JMM functionary allegedly handling the racket of coal smuggling, in terms of being booked and jailed in what is widely believed to be a fabricated FIR lodged against him.
