ED detects illegal mining worth Rs 35 crore near Swan in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab

LUDHIANA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that illegal mining of sand and stone worth Rs 35 crore has been done in and near the Swan in Una district of Himachal Pradesh.
Sources said that Rs 35 crore is just a preliminary figure and that the mining has been done on such a huge scale in areas falling between Haroli in Una and Nangal in Punjab that ED officials have started doing a physical survey to assess the exact loss caused to the exchequer by the accused behind this nexus.
This discovery by ED is a fallout of raids conducted by the agency on several stone crushers, their owners and associates and several premises in Una, Nangal, Ropar, Jalandhar, Mohali and Panchkula among others from Monday to Friday. Several incriminating documents, electronic gadgets and unaccounted cash has also been seized by ED in the action so far.
ED has also issued a statement on these raids, saying: "ED has conducted searches at the premises of M/s Lakhwinder Singh Stone Crushers, Manav Khanna, Neeraj Prabhakar, Vishal alias Vicky and Others at Una, Mohali, Panchkula and other places in connection with illegal mining in Una.
ED initiated a money-laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered at Police Station Sadar, Una, in 2021 against illegal mining at Swan river in Una. Investigation has revealed that rampant illegal mining was being carried out at locations in Una district of HP and the illegal mining included illegal mining of sand from river bed as well as stone mining from quarries.
The modus operandi adopted by the persons includes excavation of sand and gravel beyond leased mining area, overshooting prescribed depth of mining thus causing excess mining."
ED also stated, "Searches also revealed that illegal mining was also being conducted beyond the leased area and the excess illegally mined sand, gravel and stone boulders were being transported suspiciously without payment of requisite royalty, taxes to the state government.
A joint survey of these mines is being carried out to physically ascertain the extent of damage caused and quantum of illegal mining. ED search has also resulted in seizure of various incriminating documents, digital devices, property documents and unaccounted cash of Rs 15.37 lakh. Analysis of certain documents recovered from the searched locations revealed parallel sets of documents being maintained having details of actual mining for a short period of time. Preliminary analysis of the documents shows that they are involved."