Patna, Jan. 15: The illegal stone mining mafia was behind the transfer of Shivdeep Lande as Rohtas superintendent of police in August last year, according to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report submitted to the Union home ministry earlier this week.
Lande, at present superintendent of police in the special task force (STF) at headquarters, served as the Rohtas district chief for six months.
The IB report reveals that Lande, a 2006-batch IPS officer, was shifted from Rohtas under pressure from the illegal stone mining mafia operating in south and central Bihar.
During his stint at Rohtas, the officer had launched a crackdown on illegal mining in the district, especially in Gopi Bigha area under Sasaram Mufassil police station.
The raid had led to institution of cases against those involved in the illegal trade in Rohtas and Kaimur districts. Lande, who held additional charge of Kaimur at the time, had also raided the checkpost at Karmnasa on the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border.
The police operation had resulted in the seizure of around 500 trucks and collection of a little over Rs 71 lakh as fine on one day. Lande had a miraculous escape when a group of people involved in illegal mining at Gopi Bigha rained stones and opened fire on the police team.
The IB report corroborates whispers in the police headquarters about the transfer of Lande and the subsequent laxity in the raids on the mafia.
Rohtas SP M.S. Dhillon acknowledged that only two raids had been carried out in the past five months. But that, he emphasised, was because the officials remained busy with the Assembly elections.
The IB report says three deputy superintendents of police and an officer holding the rank of additional SP had played a key role in the removal of Lande. It also mentions the name of a DIG-rank officer who has been accused of lending support to the mafia. "The officer can often been seen surrounded by such people both in his office and official residence," the report says.
One of the DSP-rank officers, whose name figures in the IB report, was posted in Rohtas district for about three years. The role of two police officers in neighbouring Aurangabad district was also under the scanner of the intelligence agency for their alleged links with the stone mafia, also called entry mafia.
A source in the state police headquarters said inspector-general, Patna zone, Kundan Krishnan had on December 16 last year warned the police officers of stern action for their links with the mining mafia. The officers were posted at Agrer, Dinara, Kargahar, Kochas, Shivsagar and Nokha police stations in Rohtas district.
A DSP-rank officer, according to the IB report, is paid Rs 5,000 per day as "cut money" for allowing vehicles laden with stone chips to cross the area falling under his jurisdiction. Around 250 such vehicles cross the district borders between midnight and 4am every day, says the report. One Ashutosh, said to be a resident of Hathani village in Rohtas district, was stated to be the kingpin of the racket. Surprisingly, Ashutosh was provided police protection on the directive of a senior IPS officer.
Rohtas SP Dhillon said the security of Ashutosh had been withdrawn. "I ordered the withdrawal of Ashutosh's security after I came to know about criminal cases lodged against him in Aurangabad district," he told The Telegraph over phone on Friday.
The stone mining mafia is active mainly in Gaya, Rohtas and Kaimur districts. While one group is involved in illegal mining on the Kaimur plateau, another is engaged in transportation of the material. Their vehicles cross the checkposts of the commercial taxes department without paying the entry tax, causing a huge loss to the exchequer.
The group provides special "passes" to the vehicles which are laden with stone chips. The group ensures that the owners of these vehicles have unhindered movement. Once the payment is made, there is no restriction on the movement of these vehicles. The drivers are given code words by the members of the group, which collects money for illegal transportation of the material to their destinations.
"Instead of the tax going to the government, a bulk of it goes to the 'entry mafia', which provides forged documents for vehicle clearance at the entry point," a senior police officer, who had earlier served in Rohtas, revealed.
The IB report says that those involved in illegal mining had met a senior ruling party leader ahead of the Assembly election, demanding immediate transfer of Lande from the district. "The leader had then turned down their request saying that he (Lande) is a good officer," says the report.
Lande was shifted from the district a few weeks later (on August 2, 2015). He was appointed SP of Rohtas on February 2, 2015, by the then Jitan Ram Manjhi government.
Top police officials preferred to keep mum on Lande's transfer. "It is the prerogative of the government to transfer any public servant," said an additional director-general of police posted at headquarters.
He, however, admitted that a police officer should have a minimum tenure of two years in a district as per the Bihar Police Act, 2007. "Government of the day, however, has the discretion to effect premature transfer on administrative grounds," added the officer.
Director-general of police Pramod Kumar Thakur said he wasn't aware of any such intelligence report. "There is no any such report in my knowledge," he told The Telegraph.
Lande, sources said, had sent a 300-page report on illegal stone mining in Rohtas before his transfer to the STF.