A major joint operation by forest and police authorities has successfully disrupted illegal mica mining activities inside a protected wildlife sanctuary in Jharkhand's Koderma district.
Night-Long Raid Nets Heavy Machinery
The crackdown began on Wednesday evening around 7 PM and continued through the night until Thursday morning. Acting on persistent intelligence about illicit mining, a combined team from the Hazaribag wildlife division, Chauparan, and Koderma police raided the Chatarbar Wildlife Sanctuary area.
The raiding party discovered extensive digging across the sanctuary land, clear evidence of large-scale illegal operations. During the search, they confiscated one earthmover and two trucks that were actively being used for mining the valuable mineral. However, the individuals operating the machinery, believed to be part of a local mining mafia, managed to flee the site before the team's arrival.
Officials Vow to Continue the Fight
Speaking to the media, DFO (probationer) Sumit Banshal confirmed that the raids were conducted under the direction of DFO Suraj Kumar Singh of the Hazaribag Wildlife Sanctuary. The action was a direct response to ongoing reports of illegal mica extraction in the district.
Approximately 25 forest personnel, supported by Koderma police, participated in this significant operation. Banshal issued a stern warning, asserting that such drives would persist until all illegal mining within the sanctuary is completely eradicated. “No one involved in illegal mining in the sanctuary area will be spared,” he declared.
Case Filed and Accused Identified
Following the raid, Forest Range Officer Rambabu Kumar stated that a formal case has been registered under the stringent Forest Act against the illegal miners. The forest department has identified four local residents as the primary accused in this instance.
The named individuals are Manoj Yadav, Kishor Yadav, Mahendra Yadav, and Vinod Yadav, all from Koderma. This raid comes hot on the heels of a similar operation conducted just a day earlier, on Wednesday, where authorities seized another earthmover, five tempos, and a 'toto' vehicle, all laden with illegally extracted mica.
The back-to-back operations signal a renewed and intensified effort by the authorities to protect the ecologically sensitive sanctuary from the ravages of unauthorized mining, which causes severe environmental degradation and loss of wildlife habitat.
