Shillong, Feb 27: Nine mine workers were arrested by Meghalaya police from an illegal coal mine at Umthe area in the East Jaintia Hills district, and about 55 metric tons of illegally extracted coal from the site was seized, police said today.
The arrested coal mine workers who hail from Nepal are Vishal Rai (26) of Bojpur District, Bet Kumar Liwang (38) of Sita Chowk Jhapa District, Prakash Chettri (32) of Terathum District and Gopal Magar of Kohara, Jhapa District.
Three miners are from Karbi Anglong district in Assam. They are Nilu Thapa (45) of Manja village, Dipak Thapa (40) of Diphu and Singh Ingti (30) of Timunga.
The other arrested miners are Pula Rai alias Pale (58) of Sherpator Rai Gaon, Kalimpong District, West Bengal and Babu Giri (40) of Dimapur Nagaland.
East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police Pankaj Rasgania said all the labourers were taken into custody for necessary legal action under relevant provisions of law.
An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway to identify and take action against the persons responsible for financing, and operating the illegal mine, he said.
Acting on inputs obtained through drone surveillance, a mine raid was conducted yesterday by police in presence of an executive magistrate, leading to the detection of one illegal coal mine operating in violation of existing environmental and mining regulations.
Rasgania said in compliance with the prohibition imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on illegal coal mining and transportation, as well as in adherence to the directions issued by the Meghalaya High Court for stringent enforcement against unlawful mining activities in the State.
East Jaintia Hills police reiterated their commitment to stringent enforcement measures, asserting zero tolerance towards any form of illegal mining in the district.
At least 33 people died following a deadly explosion that occurred on February 5 at Thangsko area. A suo-motu FIR has been registered in connection with the incident at Khliehriat Police Station, and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the DIG (Eastern Range) has been constituted to investigate the case.
The state government has also set up a judicial commission of inquiry to examine the incident and its broader implications. The panel is headed by Justice (retd.) R. S. Chauhan, former Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand and Telangana High Courts, with former IPS officer H. Nongpluh and former IAS officer Peter Dkhar as members. The commission has been given six months to submit its report.
