ED team seizes illegal mining from sealed stone mines in Sahibganj, police clueless

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had a real time experience of illegal stone mining in Sahibganj on Monday when they caught four stone chips laden trucks near Marikuti Hills during inspection. As many as three persons who are the drivers of these trucks were detained and handed over to the police.

ED officials from Ranchi zonal office are in Sahibganj to investigate an illegal mining case. During the course of investigation the ED officials visited Marikuti Hills under the Jirwabari police station and took measurements of the total mining area. At Marikuti Hills, three stone crusher units of Pankaj Mishra are situated which the ED sealed after the July 8 raid. It is suspected that chips were illegally lifted from the sealed mining site of Marikuti Hills.

The ED team headed by assistant director Deovrata Jha handed them over to the local police for further action. However, officer in-charge of the Jirwabari police station, Chiranjit Prasad said that he has no information if the ED caught any person for transporting stone chips without valid documents.

But the sources present on the spot said that the ED team spotted four trucks carrying the stone chips. They could not produce any mining and transportation chalan. Besides, they could not answer queries of officials satisfactorily. On this, the ED officials handed them over to the police for further action. The ED doubts that stone chips were lifted from a stone mining site at Marikuti Hills which the ED had sealed after raids against Pankaj Mishra and his associates on July 8.

The ED had sealed three stone crusher units on plot number 74, 75 and 76 at Marikuti Hills belonging to the Maa Durga Stone Works. Pankaj Mishra who is the MLA representative of CM Hemant Soren runs three stone crusher units in partnership with Vishnu Yadav. Earlier, the ED had requested Sahibganj SP Anuranjan Kispotta to deploy the police at the sealed mining site as a huge quantity of stone chips was taken away after the ED sealed it. Pankaj Mishra is the MLA representative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren and he is being questioned by the ED in custody.