Chhattisgarh: SECL official, others held for coal `theft'

The police claimed to have busted a coal theft racket in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Thursday by arresting four persons including an official of the government-run South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) After getting a tip-off that mine officials were engaged in stealing coal from Jampali mines in Gharghoda area, a probe was launched, said Raigarh Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh.

Earlier this month, police seized 60 tons of coal which were being transported by two trucks from the area under the limits of Punjipathra police station, he said Investigations revealed that the trucks were using fake registration numbers, and the consignment had been loaded in Jampali mines, he said.

A case was registered against six persons. Four of them -- Assistant Manager Jampali Mines (SECL) Sumanta Kumar (40), SECL barrier operator Yogesh Singh (32), Ishwar Sahu (32) and Yashwant Kumar (21) -- were arrested, the SP said, adding that efforts are on to trace the other two The accused used to delete footage of CCTV installed in the mine area whenever they stole coal which was later sold in the open market, the SP said.