Rs 35-crore illegal mining detected in Una: Enforcement Directorate

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 23

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said after recent raids, it came to the fore that illegal mining worth Rs 35 crore had been carried out by certain stone crushers and related entities in Una district.

The ED, in an official statement, said it recently conducted raids against some persons who were accused of carrying out the illegal activity. It seized “incriminating” documents and Rs 15.37-lakh “unaccounted” cash.

It said the searches were carried out on the premises of Lakhwinder Singh Stone Crushers, Manav Khanna, Neeraj Prabhakar, Vishal, alias Vicky, and others in Una, Mohali (Punjab) and Panchkula (Haryana) in connection with illegal mining in the Swan river bed.

“Rampant illegal mining was being carried out at various locations in Una. This included illegal mining of sand from the river bed and stone mining from quarries,” read the ED statement.

“The modus operandi adopted by the accused was excavation of sand and gravel beyond the leased mining area, overshooting prescribed depth of mining, thus causing excess mining,” it said.

The excess illegally mined sand, gravel and stone/boulder were being transported “suspiciously” without payment of requisite royalty/taxes to the state government, the ED alleged, adding that “massive environment damage” had been caused due to non-adherence of environmental norms.

The ED said a joint survey of these mines was being carried out to physically ascertain the extent of damage caused and the quantum of illegal mining done. “The analysis of certain documents recovered from the searched locations revealed that parallel sets of documents were being maintained having details of actual mining for a short period of time. Further preliminary analysis of the documents shows that about illegal mining worth Rs 35 crore had been done by the persons involved,” it said.

This case, under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), following an FIR registered by the Una police last year.

Massive environmental damage done

• The modus operandi adopted by the accused was excavation of sand and gravel beyond the leased mining area and overshooting the prescribed depth of mining, thus causing excess mining, said the ED
• The excess illegally mined sand, gravel and stones/boulders were being transported suspiciously without payment of requisite royalty/taxes to the state government, the ED alleged
• It stated that massive environmental damage had been caused due to the non-adherence of norms

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