Barbil/Joda: Forest, police and mines officials have been seizing illegally mined minerals for the last several weeks in various parts of Keonjhar district.
According to a report, mines officials seized over 50 tonnes of iron ore fines stocked in Serenda area under Barbil police limits Sunday.
The mines officials had got a tip-off about the stocked mineral along a road near OMC Colony. Officials seized the mineral valued at Rs 1.5 lakh. The mines department has started an investigation about who had stocked it, from where it was brought and where it was to be transported.
A report from Joda said the officials of the mines department seized 30 tonnes of illegally extracted iron ore at Antaramantara Chowk under Bamebari police limits in Joda mining circle Sunday.
Official of the Joda mining circle such as Ajay Giri, Kalakar Behera and Bhaskar Singh conducted raids in the area and seized the stocked mineral.
Sources said the mineral mafia had been pilfering iron ore from various rail sidings and stocking it there.
It may be noted here that earlier this month a heavy vehicle carrying huge quantities of illegally mined manganese ore from Nayagad forest was seized by a team of forest officials in a forest under Champua range.
Forest officials from Champua, Joda, Balibandh and Bamebari while conducting night patrolling in the night of January 12 had caught the truck with 35 tonnes of manganese ore. However, the driver managed to escape under the cover of darkness.
Before that, some local youths had spotted piles of manganese ore in a bushy area in Joda police station area.
The illegally mined manganese ore weighing over 10 tonnes and covered under palm leaves amid bushes was valued at over Rs 1 lakh.
PNN