STATE TIMES NEWS
KATHUA: A team of Anti Corruption Bureau on Saturday raided the office of the District Mineral Officer (DMO), Geology and Mining Department, situated at Shiva Nagar Ward number 19 at Kathua.
The operation team, led by DySP Sunny Gupta supervised the raids and scrutinized the office records in the presence of Executive Magistrate First Class Gourav Sharma.
In addition, the sub teams of ACB conducted raids at four crushers situated at Logate Morh, Keerian Gandiyal, Chadwal and Dayala Chak.
Reliable sources informed that the officials of DMO Kathua are hand in glove with mining mafia from Punjab. The nexus has resulted in the actuate shortage of building material in Jammu, as major portion of mining material is exported to Punjab. The cost of sand, crushed stones and other building material has hiked ten times in J&K in recent times.
The Director Geology and Mining Department J&K, who is allegedly allotting the private land on lease to Punjab based mining mafia, was Deputy Commissioner Kathua at that time when the NoCs and all the documents pertaining to Environment Clearance were issued to top Punjab based mining mafia dons, said an ACB official.
Reliable sources also informed that following a vigilance case, the District Mineral Officer Kathua, Bodh Raj was attached when NOCs were given to Punjab based mafia, which is having nexus with the officials working in the Union Territory.
Sources have not ruled out detention of some officials, who are allegedly hand-in-glove with the Punjab mafia.