Haryana: Mining firm extracted six times more minerals, Rs 134 crore fine imposed

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Chandigarh, April 12

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), Haryana, revealed that a mining firm, Tirupati Roadways Mine, extracted six times more minerals from an allotted site in a press statement released today. The firm has been imposed a fine of Rs 134 crore for the illegal mining.

Last year, ACB had received information that the firm was evading GST and royalty, and an excess quantity of minerals was being extracted. The firm was given a contract for mining at a site in Rattewali, Panchkula.

During a surprise check conducted on May 11, 2022, ACB recovered various incriminating documents from the site. It came to light that within a period of five days, from May 5, 2022, to May 11, 2022, a total of 1,868 trucks or dumpers were found to be operational. On the contrary, bills mentioning GST and royalty, etc. of only 518 trucks/dumpers were found to be issued.

Further, the ACB got the site checked by the officials of the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), Gurugram, and the Mining Department Panchkula, to know the volume of material extracted from the site. Their report revealed that about six times more material was extracted from the site than the permissible limit.

Based on documents seized during the surprise check, the loss caused to the government was to the tune of around Rs 35 crore. An FIR was registered on August 25, 2022. The Department of Mining conducted checks and imposed a penalty of Rs 134 crore on the accused firm.

The accused, Gurpreet Singh Sabharwal, operator of Tirupati Roadways Mine, was arrested from Dehradun today. At the time of arrest, he was found hiding in a Dehradun hotel.