The bicycles used to carry illegal coal seized in Giridih on Friday. (Tausheen Rubbani)

A district team, led by assistant superintendent of police (operations) Sanjay Kumar, raided a Giridih-based hard coke company on Thursday morning and seized 206 tonne of illegal coal and 29 bicycles.

A truck full of coal was also seized.

The raid on Shiv Shakti Hard Coke Company, owned by Giridih-based businessman Setu Sao, was carried out on the basis of a tip-off by DSPs Prabhat Ranjan and Kailash Karmali, who were assisted by officers in charge of various police stations. The company is located in Viswadih area under Giridih’s Muffasil police station.

Sources said the seized bicycles had coal-laden jute bags tied to them, indicating that they were being used to ferry the mineral illegally.

Speaking to The Telegraph in the evening, a police officer said they were in touch with company officials, who had so far not been able to produce proper documents for the coal seized from its premises.

He added that the recovery was one of the biggest till date in the district.

“No arrest has been made in the case so far. We will lodge an FIR soon,” Kumar said.