Joda: Alarming rise in employment of blacklisted trucks for transportation of mineral ores in Keonjhar district has become a matter of concern. Locals here alleged that the illegal activity is only possible after the fraudulent truck owners greased the palms of some unscrupulous Mines and Transportation department officials.
The matter came to fore after a former truck owner Sushant Khillar of Silijoda village under Joda block in Keonjhar district brought the menace to the notice of the RTO department and lodged a written complaint with the local police.
As per the complainant, he had taken loan from a finance company and purchased a second hand truck from a man identified as Laxmipriya Mohanta August 20, 2018. That apart, he had to spend Rs 40,000 for insurance and Rs 20,000 for additional repair works.
After the registration work was done, the truck was deployed for transportation of minerals in the mining area. Just after two months of smooth running, Khillar found that his truck had been blacklisted by the Mineral and Transportation department; barring it from further transportation of minerals from the mining areas.
Khillar’s financial planning took a big hit as he could not pay the monthly installments to the finance company. When he approached the Mineral and Transportation department to enquire about the blacklisting, he was informed that his second-hand truck was reported stolen and a theft case for the same was registered in Rajasthan.
Due to failure in payment of monthly installments, the finance company took possession of the truck this year.
Meanwhile, the vehicle’s first owner Laxmipriya fraudulently managed to obtain ownership of the truck and has now engaged it in the transportation of mines where Khillar used to do earlier. On top of it, the transport department is not taking any action against Laxmipriya even though they have blacklisted the vehicle.
After receiving a written complaint from Khillar, Rairangpur RTO officials stalled the transfer of the vehicle’s ownership. Khillar also filed an FIR at Bambari police station following which police registered a complaint and seized the truck.
After inspecting the paper works, the truck will be handed over to the real owner, police said.
The incident has raised serious questions— how a truck, blacklisted for its involvement in smuggling, was allowed to carry minerals; how the online transit pass was issued and most importantly, how the IMMMS could not detect it; thus pointing an accusatory finger at the Mines and Transport department.
PNN
