BHUBANESWAR: Two days after launching a massive search operation at the properties of sand smugglers and illicit liquor manufacturers in Ganjam district, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Sunday said it has found a well-organised ‘syndicate’ engaged in the illegal activities, which included forcible acquisition of licences of mining leaseholders.
In a statement, the central agency said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to unlawfully and forcibly acquire the mining leases of various leaseholders by offering a commission at a predetermined rate. Through the unauthorised usage of licences of genuine leaseholders, the syndicate members excavated sand and black stones beyond the permissible limits as stipulated by the government. The illegally excavated minor minerals were transported using forged Y forms and transit pass, and were being sold in the grey market, mostly in lieu of cash, it added.
ED sources said the crime proceeds were then utilised in manufacturing illicit country liquor and other businesses. Most of these transactions were unaccounted and unrecorded, causing huge losses to government exchequer.
During searches, ED officials seized Rs 2.63 crore cash, 10 luxury vehicles, several incriminating documents, substantial property records and agreements including mining leases executed by the members of the syndicate. The mastermind of the illegal sand mining syndicate has been identified as Krupasindhu Muduli and further probe is on, said ED sources.
Police had earlier registered cases against several members of the syndicate in Ganjam for their involvement in serious crimes like murder, kidnapping, assault, forgery, cheating and extortion. However, the CAG report citing rampant illegal mining in the district and the illegal financial transactions prompted the central agency to launch an investigation into the matter. Investigation revealed the smuggled minor minerals were transported to various districts of Odisha and other states, they added.
On January 16, ED’s Bhubaneswar zonal office carried out an extensive search operation under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at over 25 locations in Ganjam district. Such was the scale of the operation that about 175 officials from six states were deployed here to scrutinise the properties of the people engaged in illegal sand/black stone mining and illicit country liquor manufacturing.
The ED probed the properties linked not only to the alleged the sand and black stone mining mafia but also contractors and brokers. Two luxury vehicles have been found to belong to Muduli, sources said.