Orissa Police slaps National Security Act on mining mafia

Keonjhar (Orissa), Mar 11 (ANI): Orissa Police slapped the National Security Act (NSA) on Mining Mafia Jitendra Jha, who was arrested for his involvement in illegal mining and criminal activities.

Jha was arrested on March 6 from his house in Barbil in the mineral-rich district.

Around ten million cash, some Thai currency and gold ornaments worth more than 2.5 million rupees were recovered from his house.

Police also seized about nine bank passbooks, 25 SIM cards, two passports, six mobile phones and a revolver with six cartridges.

Police officials said that all measures are being taken to control the mining crimes in the region that had been continuing from a very long time.

Keonjhar Superintendent of Police Ashish Singh said, " There have been a lot of visible efforts to control the mining thefts that are taking place. We are taking strict action against the people who are involved in this process. We have arrested six people, who have been directly or indirectly involved in this crime."

"We have charged one of the criminals under the National Security Act (NSA). One crore in hard cash has been seized from him and subsequently we have also seized all his bank accounts so that all the money he has earned through his illegal business can be confiscated," added Singh.

The other five criminals arrested in this case include Sanjay Patra, Janak Sahu, Kameshwar Prasad and Mohammad Firoz.

According to the police, these criminals have been involved in various other crimes including murders and extortion cases.

During the past two months, at least 90 people have been arrested in Keonjhar district for their involvement in illegal mining.

Investigations into illegal mining began after some politicians alleged in July that some mines were operating without licenses.

The state vigilance department is probing the mining scam. (ANI)