Chhatrapur: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) unearthed illegal mining of minor minerals in Ganjam district based on the reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), sources confirmed. The ED had been monitoring the activities of the mafias for a long time. The officials have reportedly seized cash worth more than Rs 2.5 crore during searches covering at least 25 locations. Several property papers, including multiple luxury vehicles, were also seized.
The ED officials recovered cash from country-made liquor units by establishing links between the mafias and the illegal liquor manufacturers. These links have exposed criminal conspiracies between the liquor manufacturers and the sand miners. During the raids, the ED found that extracted sand was transported to Andhra Pradesh through fake Form-Y from Odisha, a pass that is used as interstate transit permit. The suspected role of all the hired sand contractors will also be verified, the officials said.
The officials are said to have taken hold of several incriminating documents during the course of raids in two crusher units, suspecting assets were purchased from the proceeds of crime. The sources said that the persons are allegedly involved in several illegal mining cases registered against them, and the teams have recovered various mining-related documents from the possession of Krupasindhu Muduli, who is said to be the mastermind of various illegal mining scams. The ED has now mobilised teams across six states trying to investigate and establish any sort of forward and backward linkages of the businessmen and mafias, indicating more such raids in future, sources said.
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