harkhand govt orders probe into role of railway officials

Cracking a whip against errant railway officials for their alleged involvement in transportation of illegally mined minerals from the state, the Jharkhand government, which is led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the role in railway officials in illegal shipping of minerals.

According to the state government’s an official statement, the SIT, which is led by retired chief justice of Jharkhand High Court VK Gupta, will submit its report in six months.

Notably, Chief Minister Hemant Soren in December 2022 had alleged the involvement of railway officials in the transportation of illegally mined minerals from the state and sought the cooperation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to check it.

“A one-member SIT has been constituted to investigate and suggest ways to prevent the role of railway officials in illegal transportation of minerals. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has decided to fix the tenure of the SIT of Vinod Kumar Gupta (Retd Chief Justice, Jharkhand High Court) to investigate and prevent the role of Railways in illegal transportation of minerals for six months,” the statement said.

The Jharkhand Minerals (Prevention of illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2017 have been notified under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to prevent illegal transportation of minerals in the state.

“According to Rule-9(1) of the notified rules, the transportation of excavated minerals by rail is also to be done only through the transport challan. In this context, several instructions have been issued for transportation of minerals with valid e-challan through the Mines and Geology Department and various Deputy Commissioner/District level officials,” the statement said. Despite the efforts, information is being received from various sources that large quantities of minerals are being transported/ dispatched through Railways without valid e-Challans, it said.

“In this context, information/data has been sent by the Deputy Commissioner, Dumka, regarding the transportation of stone chips without permit/challan from railways. The involvement of railway officials is reflected in this irregularity. Therefore, it has been decided to form a one-member SIT to investigate and suggest ways to prevent the role of railway officials in the illegal transportation of various minerals within the state,” it added.