THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, September 9: Palamu police have unearthed a ‘mineral transportation challan’ racket being organised from Madhya Pradesh! Dubious transportation spurs illegal mining. The MO (modus operandi) of the racket is simple and sinister both.
Mineral transportation challan in mining Madhya Pradesh is issued by both means, online and offline, said the Palamu District Mining Officer (DMO) Sunil Kumar. And in the offline issued mineral transportation challan, there is enough scope for manipulations in terms of travel time of the minerals and also in terms of the trip.
A mineral transportation challan is for one trip that too within the stipulated time allotted. However, unscrupulous stone traders twist and distort the timeline for trips more than one.
A mineral transportation challan has to have these mandatory details like challan date, consignor name, location, destination, mineral name, mineral quantity etc.
According to the Palamu DMO Kumar “These details are either fudged or manipulated. The result is that on the mineral transportation challan of Madhya Pradesh, stone chips are lifted here in Palamu and where it is transported to remains a mystery.”
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Under the Rules of Jharkhand Minerals Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage, 2017, it is mandatory to give the exact location of the lifting of the minerals and thereafter the exact destination where the minerals are to be reached or offloaded.
The Madhya Pradesh mineral transportation challan is flouting the basic norms for challan, like hiding the location of lifting and destination for offloading the minerals, reiterated Sunil Kumar.
Interrupted here by this correspondent that such fudging or manipulation is possible where the mineral transportation challan is issued offline, but how come it can happen to a digital challan, to which Sunil Kumar said, “Madhya Pradesh digital challan is not as strict as Jharkhand’s challan. Madhya Pradesh digital challan is also spooky.”
Sources in the state Mining Department, Ranchi, told this correspondent, “Jharkhand has a dedicated portal of it. It is JIMMS (Jharkhand Integrated Mineral Management System). Here mineral transportation challan has to be only digital.”
There is a wide margin of rate of royalty of minerals in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, and this is being exploited by the stone mafias of both states, said sources.
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Police Action and Arrests
Superintendent of Police (SP), Palamu, Reeshma Ramesan said, “On Sunday, in a joint drive against such dubious mineral transportation challan, three loaded trucks with stone chips were seized in two different police stations in Palamu, namely Chhaterpur and Chainpur.”
Two-stone-loaded trucks having Madhya Pradesh mineral transportation challan were seized in Chhaterpur and one in Chainpur police station having more than 26 cubic meters of stone chips, each loaded in these three seized trucks on Sunday.
Drivers of these three loaded trucks were arrested on Sunday under sections of the BNS and MMDR (Mines & Minerals Development & Regulations) Act and Jharkhand Mineral Prevention of Illegal Mining Transportation and Storage Rules.
The 3 arrested drivers identified as Lal Bahadur Shah and Shyam Kishore (arrested in Chhaterpur police station) and Upender Kushwaha (arrested in Chainpur police station) were presented before the judicial officer on Sunday before being forwarded to the central jail Daltonganj on 14-day judicial remand.
Lal Bahadur Shah and Shyam Kishore hail from Bihar, while Upender is from Jharkhand.
The three seized trucks bear registration numbers of Nagaland, Bihar and Jharkhand too.
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Prashant Prasad, officer in charge of the Chhaterpur police station said the two stone chips loaded trucks that were seized bore Nagaland and Bihar registration numbers.
Officer in charge of the Chainpur police station Sriram Sharma on the other hand said the stone laden truck seized has Jharkhand registration number.
These two police officers Prashant Prasad and Sriram Sharma are the first to bust this clandestine operation which calls for an exhaustive investigation.
The arrests of the three drivers and equal number of seizures of the loaded trucks were on the FIRs lodged with the two police stations namely Chhaterpur and Chainpur by the mining officers, one each at Chhaterpur and Chainpur.
“It’s a serious racket. The Madhya Pradesh mineral transportation challan is making Jharkhand’s mining bleed profusely,” reiterated the SP.
These Madhya Pradesh mineral transportation challans are eating into royalty, transportation revenue and GST even, said sources in the Palamu police set up.
Police have got a clue of similar racket being organised from Chhatisgarh also.
Random checking of material loaded trucks has been beefed up in Palamu in the past few weeks.
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Police sources said, “Palamu’s three blocks Chainpur, Chhatarpur and Nawa Bazar are most vulnerable to this racket as here are good numbers of the stone crushing plants wherein Madhya Pradesh mineral transportation challan stone chips are loaded and transported surreptitiously.”
Sources said Palamu District Mining Office has more challenges than it can afford to have as stone mafias dig out stones and boulders from within the ground or go to disintegrate the hillocks.
The stone mafias has no concern for either the forest, environment or society. There is a strong network of stone crushing plants which has never done anything for the benefit of the society.
