Bhubaneswar: As the administration stepped up the drive against illegal coal mining, four persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in such racket in Odisha’s Sundargarh district on Saturday.
Sources said the Hemgiri police arrested the four persons in connection with illegal coal mining at Telendihi, Ratansara and Bhograkachhar areas under Mahanadi Coalfields in the district.
The four have been identified as Samir Dansena of Ratansara, Golananda Majhi of Ratanpur, Hemanand Seth of Jhupuranga and Alok Seth of Gopalpur in Sundargarh.
The police have seized two tractors and motorcycles from the arrested persons.
The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint lodged by a mining officer at Rourkela with the Hemgiri police after reports regarding illegal coal mining in Sundargarh came to fore recently.
The police had registered a case and launched a probe following which the four persons were arrested and produced before a local court, a senior police official said.
