PARADIP: Jagatsinghpur police on Friday arrested eight persons on charges of illegally lifting soil from the IDCO-acquired land in Fatehpur under Kujang tehsil.
Police said as part of the crackdown on illegal soil extraction, Jagatsinghpur collector J Sonal and SP Ankit Verma travelled to Fatehpur village in a Hyva truck in disguise on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. They did a recee of the area before conducting a raid. The officials found that the accused persons were regularly extracting soil from the site and selling it to local companies for huge profits. During the operation, police seized two JCB machines and 11 Hyva trucks engaged in the illegal practice.
Additional tehsildar of Kujang Byomakesh Pradhan lodged a complaint in Kujang police station regarding illegal theft of soil from IDCO land. Kujang IIC Shibasis Das said based on the complaint, police registered a case and arrested eight persons.
Sources said nearly 780 acres in Fatehpur village were acquired by IDCO for the proposed expansion of Paradip Refinery and ancillary industries. As the land is yet to be developed, the mafia reportedly extract soil from the area and sell it to various industries for huge profits. Many influential persons are suspected to be involved in the racket.
