RAIPUR: In a major crackdown on industrial crime, the Durg District Police in Chhattisgarh dismantled a highly organised criminal syndicate operating inside the Maharatna public sector undertaking SAIL’s flagship company Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), safeguarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The operation was blown wide open on May 26, when a police team acted on a tip-off and raided the premises of A K Traders, located in the Akalordih suburbs in Bhilai. During the raid, police caught the syndicate red-handed, discovering a massive stockpile of steel scrap hidden beneath flue dust inside multiple high-capacity commercial vehicles.
The Durg police suspected that the multi-million-rupee racket operated under the guise of legitimate industrial waste management. “The syndicate methodically smuggled high-grade BSP iron plates, beams, and structural cutting materials by hiding them inside vehicles designated for transporting ‘flue dust’ (industrial byproduct),” Vijay Agrawal, Durg’s senior superintendent of police, told this newspaper.
At the crime scene, law enforcement seized approximately 250 tonnes of iron plates and beams, valued at Rs 90 lakh. Additionally, the police impounded an extensive fleet of transport vehicles and heavy earthmoving equipment used to load and move the stolen material.
The total valuation of the seized property—including high-end trucks, tippers, a JCB, a Hydra crane, a chain mounting machine, and five specialised dust-sieving machines—stands at over Rs 3.50 crore.
Investigations and suspect interrogations have exposed a much grander, systemic leak. A massive network of various distinct gangs has been active within the plant, smuggling out upwards of around 3,000 tonnes of premium steel and heavy iron during the past six-month period, dealing an estimated Rs 17.87 crore blow to the Maharatna PSU, they inferred.
“Alarmingly, this is not an isolated operation. Multiple parallel syndicates are believed to be actively bleeding the PSU using identical methods,” said the Durg SSP.
