Sand, gravel worth Rs 35 crore illegally mined from Una district

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, September 27

The Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) probe into an illegal mining case registered by the Una police last year has opened up a Pandora’s box of illegal activity. The ED has detected illegal mining and theft of sand and gravel worth Rs 35 crore from government land in the past one year.

Now, officials concerned are wondering if all illegal mining cases in Una district are investigated, the theft of sand and gravel from government land could run into hundreds of crores of rupees. Last year, the police had registered eight illegal mining cases, four of which were referred to the ED. This year also, the police have registered 10 illegal mining cases and one of them has been referred to the ED.

SP, Una, Arjit Sen, while talking to The Tribune, said that all cases referred to the ED for further investigation pertained to large-scale illegal mining with the use of machinery. Sources said that the ED investigation may also reveal that unaccounted for money earned from illegal mining was linked to some politicians.

The SP said that yesterday, the police after receiving a letter from the ED registered a case and booked Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Jhanjeri Landran in Kharar in Mohali district. Dashrath Singh, Amit Kumar Kaundal and Ghanshyam Meena, all officials of the stone crusher, have been booked under Sections 420 and 120 of the IPC.

He said that the police had registered an FIR under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and the IPC in the case and forwarded the details to the ED. Acting on the FIR, the ED had recently raided the Una premises of the stone crusher and conducted investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED investigation revealed that the accused had 11 mining leases in Haroli area and had stolen and sold in the open market material worth Rs 35 crore. The police and the ED would look for trails of unaccounted for cash in the case, he added.

Asked about alleged political links of the accused, the SP said that all aspects, including the role of officials, would be probed. He added that all five illegal mining cases registered by the Una police had been referred to the ED. The sources said that most of the stolen material in illegal mining cases was sold in Punjab.

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