Coal scam: Bankura man moves Calcutta HC against Anup Majhi

KOLKATA: A fresh plea against illegal extraction of coal by Anup Majhi and others was filed in Calcutta high court on Tuesday, this time from Bankura’s Mejia.
Petitioner Kalidas Bandyopadhyay sought the court’s intervention to stem the problem continuing since 1991 and despite an HC order in 2017 directing the administration to take necessary steps.
Bandyopadhyay mentioned that the mafias were using “heavy machinery to extract coal from government and private land without permission”.The use of such machinery at Jugibagh mouza’s Kalikapur village under Mejia police station had turned “farmlands into ponds” that led to the collapse of a number of houses on private plots, he said. “The gangs are hand in glove with the police,” the petition said.
Bandyopadhyay also mentioned how families were being attacked following the arrest of two persons — Jiten Routh and Ashis Routh.
Several petitioners have made depositions to the CBI, which is probing the Bengal coal scam, after the agency issued them notices earlier this year. Justice Debangsu Basak on Tuesday asked additional solicitor general and CBI counsel Y J Dastoor to submit a report on the progress of investigations on Wednesday.