Stating that there is a “nexus” between the Indian Railways and its officials who are encouraging illegal mining in the state, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Wednesday wrote to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw that minerals were being ferried using fake challans and despite several reminders, no attempt has been made to track the freight.
The letter comes at a time when it came to light that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had written to the Ministry of Environment and Forests that as many as 1,350 railway rakes were used to transport illegally mined stone chips from railway stations located at Pirpainti in Bihar and Barharwa and Sahibganj in Jharkhand.
