ECL vigilance team reported coal pilferage bid to WB authorities; no action was taken: Officials

The Eastern Coalfields Ltd's vigilance team in 2019 had detected an attempt to pilfer 500 tonnes of coal from company mines in West Bengal and this was reported to local authorities, but no concrete action was taken, officials said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday started questioning three railway officials, including a senior divisional manager-rank officer, in connection with the case, they said.

The alleged multi-crore coal pilferage scam is related to the public sector undertaking's mines in the state's Kunustoria and Kajora areas.The case of 500 tonnes of coal being pilfered from mines in 2019 was linked to a businessman who was questioned by the agency on Wednesday, they said.

The CBI during questioning of suspects and officials of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) had got information that the company's vigilance team had reported to local authorities the attempt to pilfer 500 tonnes of coal from mines but hardly any concrete action was taken, the officials said.

The CBI had registered an FIR in November last year against the alleged kingpin of the pilferage racket, Anup Manjhi alias Lala, ECL general managers Amit Kumar Dhar and Jayesh Chandra Rai, ECL security chief Tanmay Das, Kunustoria area security inspector Dhananjay Rai and Kajor area security in-charge Debashish Mukherjee.

Dhar, the then Kunustoria area general manager, is now posted in Pandaveswar, while Rai is general manager for the Kajor area.

It is alleged that Manjhi is involved in illegal mining and theft of coal from leasehold mines of ECL in the Kunustoria and Kajora areas, the officials said.

On February 23, a CBI team visited the residence of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee and questioned his wife Rujira in connection with the case. The agency has also questioned Rujira's sister Menaka Gambhir on the same matter.

The MP is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew.

The developments come ahead of the assembly elections in the state where the BJP is leading a vigorous campaign to oust the ruling TMC which had secured consecutive wins in 2011 and 2016 under its leader Mamata Banerjee.