Bhikangaon: Following directives of Khargone district collector, an FIR was registered against mining mafia for causing revenue loss of lakhs of rupees to the state government. This is the first case FIR against mining mafia in the district.
According to information, on January 15 mining inspector Reena Pathak detected illegal excavation by Premlal Ramchandra on 1.263 hectare of private land with khasra number 32/1/2 in Marugarh village under of Jhirnya tehsil near Bhikangaon. Following this, Pathak lodged a complaint with Chanpur police station.
Bhikangaon SDM Om Narayan Singh said that an FIR was lodged with the police station as per the direction of collector Anugraha P. Investigation is underway.
Rs 19 lakh loss to state government
Mining officer Sawan Chouhan said that a crusher-based stone quarry lease was approved to Premlal on one hectare land with Khasra number 31/2 in Mahufata village of Jhirnya tehsil. Nearly 2,000 cubic metre of 10mm ballast near the crusher plant on the excavation belt area, about 800 metre of stone dust and about 36 cubic metre of ballast was found at the site.
At the excavation lease area, an excavation pit having a width of about 13 metre, length 17 metre, and depth four metre was also found. In addition to this mine approved in the name of Premlal, they were found to be illegally excavating on 1.263 hectare of private land having khasra number 32/1/2 in Marugarh village. Due to this, the state government bore revenue loss of about Rs 19 lakh. After hearing the case, SDM Singh transferred it to the district magistrateís court.
Heavy penalty likely
SDM Singh said that Premlal not only illegally mined the stone, but also stored and sold it after transportation. This caused a huge revenue loss to the government. As per the rules, a penalty, thirty times the amount lost, would be imposed on the accused. In this way, Premlal could be fined more than Rs 5.5 crore.
